Lamb Center, Wesley Housing Seek To Redevelop Hy-Way Motel In Fairfax

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — The Lamb Center, a Fairfax City service provider for the homeless, is partnering with the nonprofit affordable housing developer Wesley Housing to redevelop the Hy-Way Motel near Fairfax Circle, according to a release.

The two partners filed a special use permit application with the city on Tuesday, seeing to redevelop the motel located at 9640 Fairfax Blvd. into a five-story, residential/mixed-use community, with 54-studio apartments and office spaces on the ground floor.

The new apartments would be open to people earning at or below 30 percent of the area median income, which is $29,910 for a single person, according to the latest Department of Housing and Urban Development data.

Fairfax County also released data on Tuesday from its most recent Point-in-Time Survey, which showed that 1,191 county residents had experienced homelessness on a single night in 2022, according to a release. That was a 3 percent drop compared to the previous year.

“It’s good to see homelessness in the county trending down, but the long-term solution is supportive housing,” said Lamb Center Executive Director Tara Ruszkowski, in a release. “Our project in Fairfax City will provide critical supportive services centered in human dignity. Supportive housing provides stability that decreases the recurrence of homelessness and reduces the draw on public resources."

The new development on the Hy-Way Motel property would allow low-income residents long-term and in-house support services, such as case management and job training.

“Amid a housing crisis, we have to get creative when it comes to boosting permanent supportive housing options for vulnerable communitymembers,” said Wesley Housing President/CEO Shelley Murphy, in a release. “Pairing Wesley Housing’s development experience with The Lamb Center’s expertise in serving the homeless population will ensure a high-quality property that meets the needs of very low-income members of the community and supports Fairfax County’s overall housing goals.”

In March, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors doubled the county's goal of building 5,000 affordable housing units to 10,000 by 2034. Earlier this month, the board unveiled a $55 million gift from the Amazon Housing Equity Fund, which will add a second tower to the Dominion Square West affordable housing project that was already being developed in Tysons.