Work begins on phase 2 of McLean affordable housing development

Construction has started on the second phase of the two-phase Somos at McLean Metro, an affordable housing development backed by Amazon.com, SCG Development, a Tysons real estate developer, announced last week.

Work on the 231-unit first phase began in April. Phase B will add 225 new units, a mix of studio and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, for households earning between 50% and 70% of the area’s median income. (60% of the AMI is $64,980 for a one-person household.) 

“Somos at McLean Metro Phase B will bring high quality affordable housing options to families and individuals in a very high barrier to entry market that is walkable to the McLean Metro and all the surrounding amenities that Tysons has to offer,” Steve Wilson, president of SCG Development, stated in a news release. 

Virginia Housing, the commonwealth’s housing finance agency, has committed over $38 million in financing, as well as 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credits, which the federal government uses to subsidize the acquisition and construction of affordable rental housing. Previously, Virginia Housing committed $28.3 million for the first phase of development, according to SCG Development. 

“Innovative partnerships like this will be a driving force to continue to address the affordable housing crisis,” Tammy Neale, CEO of Virginia Housing, said in a statement. Amazon, through its Housing Equity Fund, provided an $18.2 million low-rate loan for Phase B of Somos at McLean Metro.

HQ2, Amazon’s East Coast headquarters in Arlington County, began a phased opening in June 2023.

In 2021, Amazon launched the Housing Equity Fund, a $3.6 billion commitment to create or preserve more than 35,000 homes for low- to moderate-income families in areas where the company has offices: Seattle, Washington; the Washington, D.C., region and Nashville, Tennessee.

For both Phase A and Phase B of the McLean project, the Housing Equity Fund has committed over $47 million.

“In addition to creating much-needed affordable housing, Somos at Mclean will connect individuals and families to transit, employment and other critical resources across the DMV,” Senthil Sankaran, managing principal of the Amazon Housing Equity Fund, said in the news release.

According to Apartments.com, the average monthly rent in McLean is $2,350 in November, and the Zillow Home Values Index put the average McLean home value at $1.3 million, according to data through Sept. 30.

Fairfax County is providing more than $15.8 million in financing to the Somos project, in addition to more than $11.4 million awarded in Phase A. Fairfax County also invested more than $19 million to buy the property. 

Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored home mortgage company, made a contribution of $32 million of tax credit equity through Hudson Housing Capital, a New York financial services company, for the housing project. 

“This new housing is the result of creativity and commitment from both the public and private sector, and a great example of how Freddie Mac can inject the equity needed to get complex deals over the finish line,” said Peter Lillestolen, vice president of targeted affordable housing at Freddie Mac Multifamily.