Just down the street from Reston Town Center, an upscale neighborhood with parks, shops, and high-end apartments, a low-income housing community called Bowman Towne Court sits at the corner of Town Center Parkway and Bowman Towne Drive, and a dispute over its future reveals the battle over a key plot of 2.89 acres of land in northern Virginia and the divide between communities in the region.
For years, Sandra Barksdale, a resident of the Bowman Towne Court apartments, has been advocating for repairs and maintenance of her unit as well as the complex, while local politicians, developers, and community groups have been advocating for plans that have included tearing the housing complex down and replacing it with five-story buildings. The property is owned by the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (FCRHA), which oversees affordable housing in the county, and provides housing to community members who receive rental vouchers through a housing program called “Section 8” and administered by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Originally from White Plains, N.Y., Barksdale has lived in an apartment in Bowman Towne Court since 1992. Over the past few years, Barksdale has seen various proposals for redevelopment, including a “new development” plan by Foulger-Pratt, a real estate investment and development company based in Potomac, Md., that included two buildings with 350 apartments, a parking garage, and an expanded regional library. The plan originally intended for the new apartments to replace the existing apartments and continue to be offered as affordable housing, although residents were unsure of where they were supposed to relocate while the project was under construction. This past February 7, Foulger-Pratt withdrew the plan due to “significantly higher construction costs and recent interest rate hikes,” according to a statement issued by Fairfax County government authorities, but criticism over the neighborhood’s alleged disrepair and the new development was an issue circulating in the backdrop.
In a letter to residents, Amy Ginger, deputy director of operations in the Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development, wrote, “We believe the townhomes on Bowman Towne Court will be redeveloped in the future, given the age of the property and its proximity to Reston Town Center, the Reston Parkway Metro Station and easy access to amenities, jobs, and county services. We will keep you informed of any proposed redevelopment plans.
“Until a redevelopment occurs, we will continue to maintain the townhomes, provide responsive customer service and communicate regularly with you and the surrounding community,” she noted.
However, as community members heard rumors of redevelopment, via word-of-mouth and flyers distributed to tenants, and even as the Foulger-Pratt plan fell apart, housing advocates like Barksdale said the management company, Quantum Real Estate Management LLC, was neglecting care of the property. From documenting broken fixtures to black mold, Barksdale filed complaints about maintenance issues she started noticing after Quantum took over in 2018. After Barksdale filed complaints with the Reston Association in July 2022, many of the problems were eventually fixed. Quantum did not return requests for comment.
On its website, Quantum describes Bowman Towne Court as one of several “scattered sites” it manages in northern Virginia, and its online reviews are littered with residents, former residents, and even neighbors filing complaints about the management company, with many describing their services as “unprofessional.”
“Quantum is a warden, and we are prisoners here,” said Barksdale, outside the apartment complex one day recently. “There is a lot of funny business going on over here.”
In community debates over redevelopment and maintenance, Barksdale has advocated for her community, often by herself, filing complaints, speaking up at community meetings, and navigating the legal system, filing a complaint on Feb. 1 against Quantum in Fairfax County courts with these allegations: “Rodent infestation, condensation on windows, mold, mildew….” Six days later, the county announced that the redevelopment plan by Foulger-Pratt was dead.
Because of Barksdale’s many years living in Bowman Towne Court, she said she has seen the ups and downs that her community has been through, prompting her to get involved in its future and fight for the best interest of herself and the other tenants.
Linda Hoffman, associate director of policy at the Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development, told the Fairfax County Times, "The Fairfax General District Court ruled in favor of the FCRHA and dismissed Ms. Barksdale's claims regarding alleged maintenance issues. Ms. Barksdale has appealed to the Fairfax County Circuit Court and that appeal is currently pending. Due to the pending appeal, the FCRHA declines to comment further as the matter is in ongoing litigation."
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors appoints 11 commissioners to the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority and its property in Reston sits in Hunter Mill District, where the representative on the Board of Supervisors is local Democratic politician Walter Alcorn. The Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development serves as staff for the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority and administers housing and community development programs for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
While the Reston Town Center flourishes, Bowman Towne Court reflects an aged Reston –one with a brick exterior and stumps from old street signs contrasting with the town center’s stone buildings and glass accents – leaving residents like Barksdale to wonder: what’s next for Bowman Towne Court and the families that live there?
