(WASHINGTON, DC) – Polly Donaldson, Director of the DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), recently joined over 100 community and financial partners to celebrate public and private sector investments that will be used to rehabilitate 64 units of affordable housing at the Maycroft Apartments, 1474 Columbia Road NW, in Ward 1.
“It’s not just about housing. It is about community. It is about services,” said DHCD Director Polly Donaldson at the July 25 groundbreaking. “We must preserve buildings like [the Maycroft]. We understand as a city that we have to bring all of our tools and resources to bear to make this happen.”
DHCD closed several loans recently with Jubilee Housing; a faith based non-profit affordable housing developer, to preserve affordability at the Maycroft. The agency provided $4.4 million in financing from the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) offered through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The project also received $400,000 in financing from HUD’s Housing Opportunities for Persons with Aids Program (HOPWA) and $300,000 from the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH).
When completed, 41 units will be reserved for households earning at or below 30 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI); 13 units will be reserved for households at or below 50 percent AMI; and 10 units will be reserved for households at or below 60 percent AMI.
The project also will feature onsite amenities that include support services for DBH clients, an early childhood education center, after school center for teens and a family resource center.
In July 2016, DHCD committed $7.5 million in financing from the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF) toward the project.
Since taking office, Mayor Muriel Bowser has made safe and affordable housing a major focus of her administration. Every year that she’s been office, the mayor has made an unprecedented commitment of $100 million to the HPTF. And as Donaldson noted in her remarks, through the mayor’s sponsorship and DC Council support, the District now has a new $10 million housing preservation fund.
“We will be looking to leverage that [fund] with private capital and be a public-private partnership” to help preserve buildings just like the Maycroft,” Donaldson explained.
The District’s multi-pronged approach to housing production and preservation, homeownership, and development of vacant properties is winning national recognition. On April 28, DHCD was announced as a finalist for the Urban Land Institute’s Larson Housing Policy Leadership Award. This annual award, provided by ULI’s Terwilliger Center for Housing, recognizes innovative ways the public sector is addressing the nation’s affordable housing crisis. The winner will be announced in September.
The District celebrated its achievements during June Housing Bloom.” Mayor Muriel Bowser’s annual month-long initiative showcased how the public and private sectors are partnering to both produce and preserve affordable housing and revitalize neighborhoods across the District. Over 6,000 attendees, a record number, registered for the June 24 9th Annual Housing Expo and Home Show.