Preserving FXBG’s Most Affordable Housing

Written by Danae Peckler, HFFI Preservationist

(A shorter version of this article was published in the June 2025 issue of The Front Porch Magazine, page 19)

 

It is common sense to most people: the lowest priced homes in the market are smaller, older, and not made for HGTV. We’re talking about that tiny apartment, townhouse rental, two-bedroom cottage, converted basement or that place that needs a lot of work.  These quirky old places are referred to as “naturally occurring affordable housing” (NOAH) or “market-rate-affordable” by housing advocates, urban planners, and some real-estate industry professionals.

NOAH comprises 75 percent of an estimated 12 million existing affordable units in America today. This categorization refers to the existing stock of privately-owned, unsubsidized, modest-sized houses and apartments that are rented at rates below the regional  average.  This type of housing is most vulnerable to market pressures like rising property values and redevelopment trends, which can lead to displacement of long-time residents and a decrease in NOAH.

For decades, those advocating for Historic Preservation and/or Affordable Housing have often partnered in the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of older buildings to create new housing opportunities–a collaboration supported by both state and federal tax incentives geared towards the reuse of historic buildings and increase in low-income housing opportunities. Similar examples of this type of adaptive reuse work in the City of Fredericksburg includes the conversion of the old G&H factory and Maury School into condominiums and some office space in the 1990s and 2000s. More recent examples include the adaptive re-use of the Janney-Marshall Warehouse on lower Princess Anne Street into apartment units.

The Preservation Compact, a non-profit Community Impact Corporation and policy collaboration thinktank, and the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University, have studied NOAH extensively across the country to support its preservation. “Unsubsidized, naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH) comprises the majority of affordable rental housing, and needs investment. The responsible small businesses that own NOAH need support.” This collaborative effort identified effective NOAH preservation strategies based on market conditions.

In lower cost markets, the vast majority of NOAH is owned by competent, responsible private market owners. In these neighborhoods it is likely that small and mid-sized for-profit owners can efficiently preserve affordability, but they are typically not looped in to government and industry policy discussions, and may need support.

In markets where values are rising, NOAH is lost over time as prices and rents increase. Mission driven developers play a critical role in these neighborhoods to keep NOAH affordable over the long term. Those developers need tools and effective strategies in strengthening markets…

Increasingly stressed by rising market values, Fredericksburg’s NOAH seems to be in a period of significant transition. So what do we know about this important sector of our housing stock? Last month, City Planning Commission and staff discussed “tracking housing production” with City Councilors without mention of any plan to monitor our existing housing stock or identify what NOAH the city may have lost in recent years (see points made at joint meeting of City Council & Planning Commission on Comp Plan revisions: 2025.4.9_PC_CompPlan_comments-from-PC-CC-joint-mtg).

How do we know if FXBG is growing or losing its most affordable housing? Who are the competent and responsible private owners and mission-driven developers that steward our NOAH? Do you know any of these kind of developers? Are they included or involved in local affordable housing groups? What can we do to further support the preservation of our City’s older and smaller homes?

HFFI is proud to know one such competent and responsible private owner – the president of our organization, David James.  James has been one of the City’s competent, responsible, small-scale landlords for more than 20 years, maintaining nine affordable units that rent from $600 to $1,050 a month.  A self-taught handyman, David does the basic maintenance and repair work for his properties. He hasn’t raised the rent for more than a decade, and he knows his tenants fairly well. Recalling their names and occupations with ease: a plumber, retired railroad engineer, safety contractor,  bartender, pizza chef,  convenience store clerk, nurse, civilian in food service at Quantico, and  bookmobile driver.

“The greatest threat to affordable housing is not the lack of resources to build, but the lack of resources to operate, maintain, and repair,” says Priya Jayachandran of the National Housing Trust in her op-ed, “In the Rush to Build, Existing Affordable Housing Is Falling Apart,” online at Shelterforce.org.

The benefits of preserving affordable housing are clear and compelling. First and foremost, only by preserving existing housing at the same time as we build new housing will we move the needle on our supply shortage; building new units while hemorrhaging existing stock is treading water at best and losing ground at worst.

Preserving housing is much less expensive than building new…. Preservation leverages prior investments in affordability by extending the life of homes we’ve already created. It’s also faster—an affordable home that is renovated and preserved can be available to families in need of housing in a fraction of the time it takes to build new housing.

Preservation uses less energy and carbon than building new. And most importantly, preserving existing housing averts displacement of residents and addresses housing stability as well as supply.