Setty Partners with Habitat for Humanity

FAIRFAX, Va. - April 29, 2015 - PRLog -- Setty is proud to announce its involvement with a project to construct five new affordable homeownership townhomes located in the west end of the City of Alexandria, VA.  The Stevenson Avenue site,  purchased by Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia (HabitatNOVA) in April of 2014, is situated in close proximity (within a 1 mi radius) to the Capital Beltway/I-95, Landmark Mall and several shopping centers along Little River Turnpike and Van Dorn Street.

Design services for the five new 1,400 sf, 3 bedroom townhomes are being provided by Wiencek + Associates, Dewberry and Setty.  Setty is providing MEP/FP design engineering services for the homes,  which will be constructed to earn Earthcraft Gold certification.  Additionally, through a partnership with Grid Alternatives, the townhomes will include solar panels. The energy efficiency of the homes will lower the homeowner’s energy costs, helping maintain affordability while providing residents with a healthy living environment.

The townhomes will be sold at cost of construction to qualified families who earn 30%- 80% of the area median income (AMI). Families must have adequate income for a down payment and monthly mortgage payments; 30 yr, 0% mortgage. Homeowners are selected through an extensive application process designed to find partner families who will succeed in a HabitatNOVA home. The application process seeks to determine the applicant’s financial need and willingness to partner. Once selected, the partner families must complete 300-400 hours of “sweat equity” in the building of their home and other HabitatNOVA homes.

The City of Alexandria faces a severe shortage of affordable housing due to sharply increasing real estate costs and regional development pressures over the past decade. Since 2000, there have been dramatic declines in market affordable rental units and opportunities for affordable homeownership by low and moderate income individuals and families. The Stevenson Ave development will provide five homeownership opportunities for families to live in the City of Alexandria. This opportunity is made possible through the generous support of donors and volunteers.

About Setty

Setty (www.setty.com) is a multi-disciplinary design engineering firm offering high-quality Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, Fire Protection, Commissioning, and Energy services.  Headquartered in Fairfax, VA and with additional offices in Washington, DC, Baltimore, MD, New York City, and Mysore, India, Setty has been helping to deliver high performing buildings in the DC metro area and around world for the past 30 years.

About Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia

Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia brings our community together to build decent, affordable housing – and hope – for people in need. Habitat provides a “hand up” to home ownership through sweat equity, donor generosity, volunteer labor, and interest-free mortgages.

Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia works to build, educate, and advocate within the Northern Virginia community and beyond to eliminate substandard housing and help make affordable housing a reality for families in need. It is our mission to draw together the time, talent and resources of our community to build decent, affordable homeownership opportunities in Northern Virginia.