By Megan Sayles,
AFRO Business Writer,
msayles@afro.com
The Riggs Crossing Senior Residences will aid older adults in confronting the District’s high cost of living. The Riggs Crossing Senior Residences, located in Ward 4, will contain 93 affordable housing units for seniors and is set to be completed in 2025.
“Older adults are often on fixed incomes and are especially vulnerable to poverty. The demand for affordable homes spans generations,” said Mike Chiappa, senior vice president of real estate for APAH. “Demographically, the number of older adults will rise significantly in the coming years, so the need for senior affordable housing will only increase. Seniors also require safe, stable accessible and affordable homes where they can age in place and make the most of their home.”
Urban developer EYA and the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) recently broke ground on the project on July 20. The development is the second stage of a two-phase project at the intersection of Riggs Road and South Dakota Avenue NE. The first phase, Riggs Park Place, was completed in 2022 and supplied 90 townhouses to D.C.
“The project was planned to be a part of EYA’s master-planned Riggs Park Place townhome community in D.C.’s Ward 4. Senior affordable housing in this transit and amenity-rich neighborhood will create a mixed-income, multigenerational community,” said Chiappa. “Riggs Crossing will be APAH’s first property in Washington D.C. We expanded to serve the D.C. metropolitan region to meet the growing, critical need for affordable housing in the area.”
Riggs Crossing Senior Residences will serve independent seniors over the age of 62 who earn 30 to 50 percent of D.C.’s median family income. Ten of the 93 units, which will feature private balconies, hardwood flooring and in-house laundry, will be reserved for permanent supportive housing.
The development will include ground-floor retail space, an underground parking garage, solar power and a green roof.
“Of course there needs to be more workforce housing for young people and for families, but as a city, we really need to be building housing for folks across the age and income spectrum who have lived in the city for a long time or who want to live in the city,” said Aakash Thakkar, chief acquisitions officer at EYA. “If you want a diverse city, affordable housing for seniors is a part of that.”
Megan Sayles is a Report For America corps member.
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