By Chris Colgan | Real Nova Network | March 24, 2026
Why it matters: Prince William County has a well-documented housing affordability crisis. A new rezoning proposal filed last week puts 149 workforce housing units on the table — on a site most people have driven past without a second thought.
The big picture:
According to Janani Jana, reporting for the Washington Business Journal on March 23, 2026, a D.C.-based affordable housing developer — Wellington Community Partners LLC, an entity of Wellington Development — filed a rezoning request with Prince William County to build a 149-unit multifamily project on a portion of a Woodbridge church campus. The site sits adjacent to Cheshire Station Plaza and the upcoming Quartz District mixed-use development.
This is a church-to-housing conversion play — one of the more creative land utilization strategies I've been watching emerge across the NoVa market — and it lands in a part of Prince William County that has been quietly evolving for years.
The details:
- The site: 5.60 acres carved out of a 22.57-acre parcel owned by Victory Christian Ministries International, an evangelical church with eight campuses across Maryland, D.C., Virginia, and the United Kingdom. Per the WBJ report, the church acquired this Woodbridge property in 2013 for $8.1 million.
- The location: Roughly a quarter mile northeast of the Minnieville Road and Dale Boulevard intersection — a well-trafficked corridor with proximity to transit, retail, and the growing Quartz District.
- The income targets: Units are designed to serve households earning up to 60% of Area Median Income (AMI). In Prince William County, AMI for a four-person household in 2025 was $98,300 — meaning the ceiling for eligible renters would sit around $58,980 annually for a family of four.
- Current zoning: The parcel is zoned agricultural and currently hosts a 2,500-seat sanctuary. An existing special use permit allows for a day care and private school, but Wellington's application proposes to amend that SUP and remove those uses.
- The structure: Wellington is proposing a ground lease arrangement with the church — a common mechanism in affordable housing finance that lets faith-based landowners retain ownership while unlocking development without selling.
- The architect: Hord Coplan Macht, a firm with a strong Mid-Atlantic affordable housing portfolio.
See the Newest Woodbridge, VA Real Estate
What they're saying:
As Jana reported in the Washington Business Journal, Wellington Development stated in its application that the project will advance "one of the County's highest policy priorities" by delivering high-quality affordable housing in a location with strong infrastructure and transit access. Victory Christian Ministries International and Wellington both declined to comment beyond the application materials.
The policy backdrop:
This proposal leans directly on Prince William County's affordable dwelling unit ordinance, adopted in June 2025 — a relatively new policy framework designed to expand housing access for low- and moderate-income residents by incentivizing density in appropriate locations. Wellington explicitly cited the ordinance in its rezoning application as justification for the added density.
That policy context matters. Prince William County has historically been slow to embrace affordable housing density compared to some of its NoVa neighbors. The adoption of that ADU ordinance last summer represented a meaningful shift, and this application is essentially the first major test of whether the county will follow through with approvals that match its stated priorities.
What I'm watching:
From where I sit — having worked in this market for over 18 years and closed more than $1 billion in transactions across Prince William County — the Woodbridge corridor has significant long-term upside. The Quartz District development nearby is adding commercial density and foot traffic. The Minnieville Road / Dale Boulevard area has been underbuilt relative to its infrastructure capacity for years.
The structural inventory deficit we've been tracking across Prince William County is most acute in the workforce housing segment. Projects like this don't solve the problem overnight, but 149 units directed at AMI-qualified households represents meaningful incremental supply in a market that desperately needs it.
The ground lease structure is worth understanding if you're following development in this area. By not requiring the church to sell, Wellington creates a replicable model that other faith institutions with underutilized land could follow. Victory Christian has a sprawling 22+ acre campus here — this proposal only touches 5.6 of those acres. What happens with the remaining 17-plus acres over the next decade is a story worth tracking.
The bottom line:
149 units. AMI-qualified renters. A church-to-housing ground lease. A rezoning application that directly invokes a brand-new county ordinance.
This project checks every box for what Prince William County's housing policy is supposed to encourage. The question now is whether the county's planning commission and board of supervisors will move with urgency — or whether this becomes another application that winds through the process for 18 to 24 months while the affordability gap widens.
For the full original reporting, read Janani Jana's piece in the Washington Business Journal.
If you're watching Prince William County real estate closely, this is the kind of supply-side story you need to understand. It's not flashy. It's not luxury. But it directly shapes the inventory conditions that affect pricing across all price points in this market.
If you're looking for the best realtor in Prince William County to help you make sense of what these development shifts mean for your buying or selling strategy, I'd love to connect. Visit ColganTeam.com or explore Prince William County listings to get started.
Stay ahead of Northern Virginia real estate news by subscribing to my newsletter at realnovanetwork.com and following along on YouTube at YouTube.com/ChrisColgan and Instagram at @ChrisColganTeam.
"The Quartz District is a large-scale mixed-use development planned for the Woodbridge area of Prince William County. It is expected to bring commercial, retail, and residential density to a corridor that has historically been underbuilt relative to its infrastructure. The proposed Wellington affordable housing project sits adjacent to this site." "AMI stands for Area Median Income. At 60% AMI in Prince William County — where the 2025 four-person household median was $98,300 — eligible renters would need to earn at or below approximately $58,980 for a family of four to qualify. These income thresholds vary by household size." "A ground lease allows a landowner — in this case, Victory Christian Ministries International — to retain ownership of the underlying land while leasing it to a developer who constructs and operates a building on the site. This structure is commonly used in affordable housing because it reduces developer land costs, lowers rents, and allows faith-based or institutional landowners to generate income without permanently selling their real estate." "Adopted in June 2025, Prince William County's affordable dwelling unit ordinance creates a policy framework encouraging developers to include income-restricted units in new multifamily projects, particularly in areas with strong infrastructure and transit access. Wellington explicitly cited this ordinance in its Woodbridge rezoning application as justification for increased density."Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Quartz District in Woodbridge, Virginia?
What does 60% AMI mean for renters in Prince William County?
What is a ground lease in affordable housing development?
How does Prince William County's affordable dwelling unit ordinance affect new development?
About Chris Colgan
Chris Colgan is the founder of Real Nova Network and team leader of Chris Colgan – Real Broker – Powered by PLACE.
Through colganteam.com and realnovanetwork.com, Chris covers Northern Virginia real estate trends, major developments, and hyper-local market updates to help buyers and sellers make confident decisions.
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