(Washington, DC) – Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) announced the selection of 9 projects that will produce and preserve over 1,100 affordable homes, including approximately 660 new homes. The affordable housing projects are being funded primarily through a $66 million investment from the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF).
“Federal relief efforts championed by the Biden Administration, coupled with our local housing resources, made these investments possible,” said Mayor Bowser. “One project at a time, we are moving closer to reaching our goal of 36,000 new homes by 2025; but even more important, we’re building affordable homes for Washingtonians that will keep families in DC for years to come.”
The projects were selected from applications to the District’s 2019 Consolidated Requests for Proposals (RFP), that previously saw the selection of 10 projects for further underwriting. At the time, qualified applications to the RFP exceeded available resources by a 3:1 ratio. Additional resources became available when the Congress passed their December relief package establishing a permanent minimum 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) rate that allows HPTF gap financing to go further. Additionally, Section 108 resources recently approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have provided another new source to move affordable housing projects forward.
“We have partners standing ready and willing to provide quality affordable housing to meet our goals.” said DHCD Director Polly Donaldson. “They simply need the District to join them in public-private partnerships to build much needed affordable housing, and the identification of additional resources do just that.”
The projects will now proceed to the underwriting stage and join other selected projects in the pipeline at DHCD. The list of selected projects include:
- 7428 Georgia Avenue NW (Ward 4) – This project will produce 64 net new units of affordable housing almost all at or below 50% of Median Family Income. Housing Provider: Lock7 Development, LLC.
- Benning Road (Ward 6) – This project will produce 148 net new units of affordable housing including 123 units at or below 50% Median Family Income. Housing Provider: Foulger-Pratt, LLC.
- Belmont Crossing Phase 1A (Ward 8) – This project will preserve 34 units and produce another 54 net new units of affordable housing. Housing Provider: Belmont Crossing Partners.
- Carl F. West Estates (Ward 1) – This project will produce 178 net new units of affordable housing including 142 units at or below 50% Median Family Income. Housing Provider: NCBA Housing Development Corporation.
- Congress Park Senior (Ward 8) – This project will produce 56 net new units of senior housing at or below 50% Median Family Income. Housing Provider: Urban Atlantic.
- EucKal (Ward 1) – This project will preserve 17 units of affordable housing and produce 33 net new units of affordable housing at or below 30% Median Family Income. Housing Provider: Jubilee Housing.
- Terrance Manor (Ward 8) – This project will replace existing buildings to produce 130 net new units of affordable housing in a range of income levels at or below 60% of Median Family Income. Housing Provider: WC Smith and Anacostia Economic Development Corporation.
Villages of East River (Ward 8) – This project will preserve 202 units of affordable housing with a majority at or below 50% of Median Family Income. Housing Provider: NHT Communities, IBF Development.
Worthington Woods (Ward 8) – This project will preserve 200 units of affordable housing at or below 60% of Median Family Income. Housing Provider: Montgomery Housing Partnership, Inc.
At the start of her second term, Mayor Bowser set a bold goal to deliver an additional 36,000 units of housing – including at least 12,000 units of affordable housing – by 2025. By further equitably distributing these goals across the District's ten planning areas, Mayor Bowser made DC the first jurisdiction in the nation to create affordable housing goals by neighborhood. From January 2019 through March 2021, the District has produced 14,613 units, of which 2,099 are affordable. You can track the District’s progress toward #36000by2025 at open.dc.gov/36000by2025.
Mayor Bowser reaffirmed her commitment to investments in affordable housing with her Fiscal Year 2021 budget, recognizing that both short- and long-term efforts must be ongoing to preserve housing affordability and stability for all District residents. The Mayor’s FY21 budget includes an investment of $100 million in the Housing Production Trust Fund – for the sixth consecutive year – and a $1 million investment in the leveraged Housing Preservation Fund.