(WASHINGTON, DC) – The DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) closed two loan agreements totaling more than $7.5 million that will help preserve more than 60 affordable rental housing units — capable of housing over 150 residents — in Wards 1 and 8. The funding was made available through the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF).

“As our city grows and prospers, we use all the tools at our disposal to preserve our existing affordable housing stock. Gap financing from the Housing Production Trust Fund helps make that happen,” said DHCD Director Polly Donaldson. “This financing will allow a nonprofit developer, as well as a tenants association, to maintain safe and affordable homes for residents in Wards 1 and 8.”

DHCD provided So Others Might Eat (SOME), a nonprofit community development organization, with $4.9 million in HPTF financing for the acquisition and preservation 36 affordable rental housing units at 1433 – 1435 Spring Road NW.  The project was also provided $587,577 in 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credits. As a result of this financing, SOME will be able to provide supportive services for 36 families. The units will be available for households at or below 30 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI) and remain affordable for no less than 40 years.

DHCD financing also will help tenants own and rehabilitate their building under the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA). United 2nd Street Tenants Association, along with nonprofit affordable housing developer Mi Casa, was awarded $2.6 million in HPTF financing for the acquisition and preservation of 25 affordable rental units at 3719 – 3723 2nd Street SE. Thirteen units will be for households at or below 80 percent AMI; 11 units will be for households at or below 50 percent AMI; and one unit will be for a household at or below 30 percent AMI.

Since taking office, Mayor Muriel Bowser has made affordable housing a major focus of her administration. In October, the mayor celebrated a record HPTF investment for FY 2016: $106.3 million supporting 19 projects that will produce or preserve more than 1,200 affordable housing units across the city. And in the first five months of FY 2017, one half of the HPTF is already allocated to projects that will produce and preserve affordable housing across the District. DC’s annual $100 million HPTF is more than any city per capita in the country. Additionally, in her March 30 State-of-the-District address, the mayor announced as part of her in her inclusive prosperity platform a new initiative of $10 million dedicated solely to a new public-private housing preservation fund.

Since January 2015, the Bowser Administration has produced and preserved over 3,100 units of affordable housing units in the District with more to come. More than 3,700 affordable housing units—capable of housing more than 9,250 District residents—are in the development pipeline.

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 will celebrate its achievements during June Housing Bloom.” Mayor Muriel Bowser’s annual month-long initiative showcases how the public and private sectors are partnering to both produce and preserve affordable housing and revitalize neighborhoods across the District. The 9th Annual Housing Expo and Home Show is among the events occurring in June.