Department of Housing and Community Development: January 13, 2003

(Washington, DC) Mayor Anthony A. Williams, Eric Price, the deputy mayor for Planning and Economic Development, and Stanley Jackson, director of the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), announced that 26 affordable housing and community facility projects are eligible to share $25 million in funding for affordable housing and community facilities. The selected projects will go forward to the underwriting stage; DHCD expects to issue letters of commitment in early March 2003.

Proposals for the projects were submitted to DHCD in response to a Request for Proposals (RFP) from developers committed to creating affordable housing and community facilities. The agency's $25 million investment will leverage over $145 million in private and public resources for the development of approximately 1,853 units of long-term affordable housing and community facilities.

On August 1, 2002, DHCD announced the availability of $25 million to assist in the development of affordable housing and community facilities. The funding sources include the District's Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF); federal support with Community Development Block Grant (CDBG); HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) dollars; and, Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). On August 15, 2002, the RFP was issued and several community outreach meetings were held. In addition, a pre-proposal conference was conducted, an RFP hotline established, and a link was set up on the DHCD website. The application process was closed on October 15, 2002.

Approximately 59 proposals were received requesting over $89 million in assistance for affordable housing and community facilities. The announcement today represents only those projects that have been selected to move forward through the underwriting and review process with the Department of Housing and Community Development. These projects represent affordable homeownership opportunities, rental housing for families, and housing for our senior citizens and special needs populations.

An independent review panel met to evaluate proposals based upon predetermined threshold criteria and eligibility ranking criteria. The Independent RFP Review and Selection Panel members were: Mr. Quince T. Brinkley, Jr., manager, Freddie Mac Northeast Region; Mr. Lawrence Dwyer, director, Planning and Development, District of Columbia Housing Authority; Mr. Ed Lazere, director, District of Columbia Fiscal Policy Institute; Ms. Oramenta Newsome, senior program director, Local Initiatives Support Corporation; and, Mr. M. Craig Pascal, vice president, Branch Banking and Trust. Selected developers will move forward to the underwriting stage and the department expects to issue letters of commitment in early spring.