Ground Leases Make Affordable Housing Add Up in Fairfax
Pictured above: The Lodge at Autumn Willow. Image Courtesy of The Michaels Organization.
October 8, 2026
In Fairfax County, both the cost and demand for housing are among the highest in the country. This past June, Virginia Housing attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for The Lodge at Autumn Willow, an affordable senior community in western Fairfax County. Beyond providing much-needed housing options, The Lodge at Autumn Willow is the latest example of the County’s use of a creative tool for addressing its affordable housing needs: the ground lease.
Affordability in Fairfax
According to the recent Assessing Housing Needs in Fairfax County ↗ study, 87% of Fairfax County renters earning less than $75,000 per year spend more than 30% of their income on rent, meaning that many of the professionals who are essential to the County’s economy —teachers, first responders and hospitality workers, for example — are cost-burdened. Moreover, the County is 13,800 affordable rental homes short of what is needed for households earning 60% or less of the Area Median Income (AMI). As part of the effort to address this ongoing challenge, Fairfax County is working toward a goal of creating 10,000 net new affordable units by 2034.
One sector where the need for affordable housing is particularly acute is Fairfax’s seniors ↗: while this population is rising — from 13.4% of residents in 2019 to a projected 17.7% by 2035 — only 21% of older adults surveyed rated the availability of affordable, quality housing as good or excellent.
The Lodge at Autumn Willow
A 150-home community for older adults, The Lodge at Autumn Willow is a welcome addition in the effort to address Fairfax County’s housing gaps. Forty six of the property’s homes are designated as affordable, with 22 units reserved for residents earning up to 50% of AMI, 16 allotted to residents earning 30% of AMI and eight supported by project-based vouchers.
Equity from the sale of Virginia Housing-administered Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) helped fund construction for The Lodge at Autumn Willow, and Virginia Housing issued both construction and permanent loans for the development.
Ground Leases and Affordable Housing Development
Critically, The Lodge at Autumn Willow was built on land that Fairfax County has leased to Michaels Development for 99 years in exchange for $1 and the affordability provisions. The ground lease arrangement showcases how this public-private partnership can provide upsides for all parties involved, allowing the County to use its own land and buildings to address affordability goals while giving the developer a path for avoiding the cost of land acquisition, offsetting the financial challenge inherent to providing below-market rentals.
“Having a ground lease is our way to maintain affordability for the long term of a property,” said Anna Shapiro, Deputy Director for Real Estate Finance and Development at Fairfax County Housing and Community Development. “As rents continue to rise, we want to make sure people have affordable rental opportunities.”
Virginia Housing has supported several other ground lease developments in Fairfax County through financing, administering LIHTCs or both. Recent examples include The Exchange at Spring Hill Station ↗, Belmont at One University ↗, Indigo at McLean Station (originally called Somos at McLean Metro) and Fairfax Crest ↗. Each of these communities is located near transit and other amenities, meaning that beyond offering tenants affordable rents, they offer easier access to employment centers and life-enriching activities.
“Land is so limited in Fairfax County, and what’s available is very expensive,” said Ayan Addou, Northern Virginia Strategic Housing Officer at Virginia Housing. “Ground leases are a great way to bypass that. They’re a great mechanism for a jurisdiction looking to meet affordable housing targets because they increase site control while lowering the cost of development. We’re happy to see them happening.”