On Friday, October 7th, Loudoun-based Good Works and Maryland-based Green Street Housing celebrate the groundbreaking for Waxpool Apartments, 52 new units of attainable housing located at the corner of Waxpool Road and Ashburn Village Blvd, within a one mile walk to the new Ashburn Metrorail Station.

With a total development cost of $21.8 million, this will be the first building in Loudoun County to be certified by four independent green building programs: 1) National Green Building Standard (Silver); 2) Energy Star Multifamily New Construction; 3) ZERO Energy Ready Home; and 4) Indoor Air Plus.

“As of right now, I think it is safe to say the Waxpool project is certainly in rarified air; less than three in the state would be a good guess,” said Chris Conway, President of Conway Energy, who will be responsible for monitoring and testing throughout the construction process to be sure this building meets all standards. “It will require about 700 pages of documentation to get this building fully certified,” said Conway.

“Once upon a time, attainable housing had a bad reputation for being poorly built,” said Kim Hart, Managing partner of Good Works. “While keeping our construction costs within the strict limits of Virginia Housing, we are proving that new construction in Loudoun County can still be green and sustainable,” said Hart. “I hope this will help attract young people to our industry and make those who live here feel very proud.”

“The unit mix at the project consists of 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom units,” said Tom Ayd, Co-Owner of Green Street Housing. “Our goal is to provide workforce housing to those individuals and families who will be attracted to this location so close to the Metro,” said Ayd.

Waxpool Apartments will be four stories of residential construction on top of a one-story podium, with parking underneath. The highly articulated facades will feature a balance of brick veneer and colorful but long-lasting fiber cement siding. All 52 units will meet Universal Design standards. 236 rooftop solar panels will provide over 150,000 kWh of onsite power generation to offset nearly 70% of the electricity needed for all common areas and public lighting.

Waxpool Apartments is providing all of the affordable dwelling units (ADUs) required by the Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance for the Waxpool Crossing development plus an additional 39 “bonus” affordable units—three times the number of ADUs required. These extra units are supported financially by a $2.5 million loan from the Loudoun County Housing Trust Fund.

In addition to a child’s playground on site, residents of Waxpool Apartments will enjoy all of the amenities provided by Northfield Construction & Development, the master developer for Waxpool Crossing. These include: a basketball court; outside grilling area with a fire pit; large community playground; bocce ball court; trike track; dog park; and over a half mile of walking trails.

Occupancy is planned for late fall of 2023. The waiting list for new residents will open next summer.

The event was held at Waxpool Apartments, 21685 Romans Drive, Ashburn, VA 20147 at 11:00AM on October 7, 2022. Refreshments were provided.