Lincoln Avenue JV to Build DC Affordable Housing
The transit-oriented development will be partially age-restricted.
Lincoln Avenue Communities has teamed up with Headen Spring Development LLC to build Headen Spring, a 290-unit, mixed-income and partially age-restricted community in Riverdale, Md.
Architectural firm Grimm + Parker designed the master plan. Early conceptual plans envisioned one- to three-bedroom units across four buildings—one featuring 3,200 square feet of retail space and another being age-restricted.
Headen Spring will also include a 25,756-square-foot facility comprising a gymnasium, a childcare center and office space focused on community activities related to health and education.
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The project is on a 10.2-acre site at 6201 Riverdale Road, roughly 10 miles northeast of Washington, D.C. Headen Spring will take shape adjacent to the Riverdale Park Purple Line station—a node in the 21-station, upcoming Purple Line set to connect Prince George and Montgomery counties.
Financing the pre-development stage of an affordable project
Headen Spring Development LLC—a partnership between Refreshing Spring Church of God in Christ and Sowing Empowerment & Economic Development—issued an invitation for an Expression of Interest toward the community’s buildout in 2021.
That same year, the Purple Line Equitable Transit-Oriented Development Collaborative, a fund focused on lending to preserve and develop affordable housing along the Purple Line, issued a $125,000 loan for Headen Spring. JPMorgan Chase funded the Collaborative.
Another revolving loan fund administered by the National Housing Trust originated a note for the community’s development. Kaiser Permanente backed the investment vehicle with a $5 million commitment.
In 2022, Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund pledged $656,300 for the development of 10 affordable housing projects throughout Greater D.C. Headen Spring was one of them, having received $50,000 for the study and planning stages. Enterprise Community Partners issued other pre-development funds.
Washington, D.C.’s steady affordable pipeline
Metro Washington, D.C.’s pipeline had more than 31,400 units under construction as of October, Yardi Matrix data shows. Of these, upward of 4,440 units were in fully affordable projects. During the four-year period ending in 2023, multifamily deliveries included an average of 1,566 units in fully affordable communities per year.
A partnership between The NRP Group and Marshall Heights Community Development contributed to the metro’s affordable pipeline by breaking ground on Emblem in July. The project comprises 115 units and the developers expect completion in 2026.
