NVAR CEO Ryan Conrad welcomes housing challenge participants and reinforces association’s commitment to housing accessibility in Northern Virginia.

AS PEOPLE IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA and around the globe grapple with their new stay-at-home reality, there are many whose pre-pandemic struggle continues to be simply finding an affordable place to call home.

On March 11, a group of Fairfax County residents gathered at George Mason University in Arlington to spend the day learning about the region’s housing challenges and working together to brainstorm potential solutions. The Housing Challenge, co- hosted by the GMU Center for Real Estate Entrepreneurship and Fairfax County, was designed to educate real estate professionals and the general community about the issues involved with delivering affordable housing in communities in Fairfax County.

“The event also provides an opportunity to brainstorm on creative new ideas,” said Eric Maribojoc, executive director of GMU’s Center for Entrepreneurship.

Explaining to participants NVAR’s rationale for sponsoring the competition, CEO Ryan Conrad said, “Affordable housing is an issue that is critical to all of us who live and work in this region – and to the economic future of Northern Virginia.

“Realtors® are champions of the American Dream of Homeownership but also advocate for the importance of sustainable housing for all. That commitment is reinforced locally by our long history of partnering with the Fairfax County Office of Human Rights and Equity Programs. We believe that housing security is the backbone of a productive population and we are dedicated to being part of the solution that keeps Northern Virginia at the epicenter of innovation,” Conrad explained.

THE MISSING MIDDLE

During this unprecedented era of appreciation for those who provide essential services in our communities, understanding their housing challenges takes on greater significance. The “missing middle” concept refers to a lack of affordable housing options for health care workers, teachers, first responders and others in the communities they serve.

“Every day we use services or benefits in Fairfax County with residents who fall in to the missing middle criteria,” said challenge participant Rob Wittman, principal broker with NextHome Reach and a member of the first-place challenge winning team. “They take care of our kids, work on our cars, and staff our hospitals.”

A social media post about NVAR’s sponsorship and support of the program caught Wittman’s attention. “I’ve been challenging myself the last year or two to say ‘yes’ to things that are difficult or challenging because I love problem solving and working in groups,” he said. “What was very cool about our group is we had a social worker from Fairfax County, a property manager (with experience in voucher program housing), a retiree, a current voucher program user, and myself. We just all had something to contribute, and I loved that because our experiences and awareness were at such different levels,” Wittman explained.

NVAR Government Affairs Director Josh Veverka (third from right), presents a prize award to winning team members.

 

UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUES; EXPLORING THE SOLUTIONS

Before breaking into teams, participants heard from local housing experts, educators and elected officials who set the stage for the affordability challenge.

“Regionally, Fairfax County has made a difference the past decade, connecting housing and transportation,” said Chuck Bean, executive director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. Understanding “where your jobs sleep at night” is an important part of the affordability analysis, Bean explained. “Around one tenth of the region’s workers come from outside of the area to jobs here,” he said.

Bean outlined six solution “buckets” to address affordable – defined as no more than 30% of income – places to live for this region’s workers: 1) land use and zoning; 2) transit; 3) funding and finance; 4) design; 5) construction innovation; and 6) residential patterns.

Jeff McKay, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, explained that the lack of affordable housing has become an environmental issue, created a moral crisis and presented an economic challenge for the county. He outlined possible solutions that include budget, land use and zoning components.

Local experts introduced each of the three policy challenges that the teams would address as part of the competition: Design a Communications Strategy; Engaging Non-Traditional Partners; and Engaging Houses of Worship.

Winning presentations addressed the challenge from several perspectives. The first-place team developed a communications plan for “Enhancing Public Awareness and Support for Affordable Housing;” the second-place winners focused on “Collaborating with Communities to Reprogram Underutilized Parking Lots;” and the third-place team promoted “Win-Win Homesharing.”

NVAR member Rob Wittman, a member of the first-place team, presents his group’s winning idea to the event participants.

Wittman’s first-place team recommended a campaign creating two or three characters representing the missing middle. “These personas would be featured in social media, bus campaigns, and county mailers highlighting the plight of the missing middle – for example the deficit they run financially each month because of the lack of affordable housing options; or their commute times as they are pushed out of Fairfax County,” Wittman said. “In general we centralized on the thought that we have safety nets for our homeless population and low- income individuals but if the missing middle actually disappeared we would lose vital services and support in our communities.” Wittman explained that his team members were in agreement that using a persona campaign would put a face or personal relationship to what is at stake.

The top three ideas will be presented at a future meeting of the board of the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Maribojoc explained. “Fairfax County is considering making the event into an annual housing event, to highlight the importance of housing accessibility and affordability to the area’s economy and quality of life,” Maribojoc said.

Asked what he learned from this experience, Wittman said, “A lot of people care about affordable options in their communities. There are wonderful organizations that create options for aging populations, at-risk youths transitioning to adulthood, and low income and missing middle families throughout the county and the region.

“At the end of the day,” Wittman said, “Realtors® should be up to the challenge to find homes, no matter how difficult that task may be, for everyone equally.”

To learn more about the 2020 Housing Challenge, visit NVAR.com/ HousingChallenge.


Ann Gutkin is the NVAR vice president, communications.