Reimagining the Heart of Southwest DC:

An Opportunity to Create World Class, Inclusive Housing, Commercial, and Community Space at 4th and M Streets SW

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The VISION vs. the REALITY in Southwest

VISION

The SW Neighborhood Plan (2015) promised equitable development:

“Southwest will remain an exemplary model of equity and inclusion - a welcoming and engaged community that celebrates and retains a mix of races, ages and income levels and enhances well-being for all amidst neighborhood growth and change.

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Southwest’s most defining characteristic is its people. Residents overwhelmingly expressed their desire to maintain the economic and racial diversity that makes the community so strong and vibrant.”

REALITY

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7,708 total units - only 6% affordable (as of 5/3/23, DMPED Dashboard)

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*Most number of units, second least % “affordable”

New Housing in SW

Information from 18 new developments in Southwest:

• 16/18: apartments (89%);
• 5/18: 3-bedrooms (28%);
• 1 bedrooms:
• Size: 481 - 1,222 square feet
• Rent: $1,970 - $5,200.
• 2 bedrooms:
• Size: 736 - 2,499 square feet
• Rent: $2,120 - $17,800

Current proposal for 4th & M

Plan:

• 2 buildings = 598 units of which 48 (8%) will be “affordable”;
• East building will feature a community center with a 30-year free lease.

Issues:

• Loss of unique community gathering space;
• More of the same: expensive, small, rental housing.

Site history

2003: Zoning Commission approves plan to demolish Waterfront Mall and redevelop the surrounding parcels. Parcels at 4th & M are zoned for commercial development.

2008: East parcel is sold for $2,349,600 (now assessed at $19.2M); West parcel is sold for $1,798,720 (now assessed at $14.7M).

2008 - 2017: Developer files three separate time extensions to postpone development. ANC 6D urged developer to “activate” space. In interim, site became host to farmers markets, night markets, festivals, fairs, and a communal gathering space.

2017: Developer files for zoning change from commercial to residential.

2018: Zoning commission approves development.

2019: Development is challenged in D.C. Court of Appeals.

2022: January: Court of Appeals affirms development; May: lots go on sale.

The 4th & M Street SW Coalition’s Proposal:

For the DC government to acquire the lots and transfer them to the Douglass Community Land Trust, which can then guide an inclusive planning and long-term stewardship process – one that centers the long-term stability, affordability, and growth of the neighborhood.

Attributes of vision:

• Increases opportunity for Black home ownership;
• Supports and grows minority-owned small businesses;
• Creates viable, sustainable, and deeply affordable housing;
• Project design incorporates much needed green space to improve the attractiveness and livability of a high profile and rapidly growing neighborhood; and
• Cements DC’s ranking as a world class city that advances innovative urban spaces.

Intro to Community Land Trusts

Community Land Trusts (CLTs) are non-profit organizations, made up of community members, that collectively own land and lease access to the land at below market prices.

Anything can be built atop CLT land: homes, apartments, retail space, etc.

An effective approach rooted in racial justice

• Community Land Trusts (CLTs) have always been rooted in racial justice: Civil rights advocates established the first CLT in Georgia in 1969 as a means of preventing the displacement of Black farmers. Now, CLTs are being used throughout the country and the world to prevent displacement and address racial injustice.

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• The D.C. Council Office of Racial Equity, whose mission it is to eliminate racial disparities and achieve racial equity in the city, recommended that public land should be developed, “to include innovative, long-term models such as coops and community land trusts to address the current racial disparity in homeownership rates.”

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• A 2018 study from Grounded Solutions looked at more than 4,000 shared equity housing units, like CLTs, in 20 states, over 30 years and found that:
• 99% of units avoided foreclosure;
• The number of minorities living in shared equity housing has jumped from 13% to 43% in recent years;
• “Confirm[ed] that shared equity models provide affordable homeownership to lower income families generation after generation […] [and] provides financial security and mitigates risks for homeowners facing housing market turmoil.”

How CLTs stay permanently affordable

CLTs are a wise financial investment for the government and can maintain affordability over long periods of time by retaining subsidy.

Homeownership example: A home in DC is valued at $500,000. To make it affordable to someone at 50% AMI, it will require an initial subsidy of $327,000, making the sale price $173,000. Resale price is kept affordable to the next buyer AND Homeowner gains equity from paying down mortgage and sharing the gain from market appreciation.

Financial justification

Our vision and the benefits that a community land trust at 4th & M would provide for the neighborhood and city is not only worth the investment, but is comparable to other investments the DC government has made:

• $54 million eminent domain for Frederick Douglass Bridge;
• $50 million to build 3-4 parks in the "NoMa" neighborhood;
• $14 million to revamp the Eastern Market metro space;
• $13 million to redesign “Dave Thomas Circle”;
• $2 million bid for a dog park in Columbia Heights.

Douglass Community Land Trust

MISSION

Planting the roots of affordability, security, and prosperity for current and future generations through community ownership of land, today.

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As a nonprofit membership organization centered around racial and economic equity, we work to create and secure lasting affordability of housing, local small business, and other community-held assets for current and future residents of the Douglass Commonwealth; build assets for individuals and families, while ensuring decision-making resides within the community.

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Ongoing Stewardship

A suite of services to:

• ensure the properties in the CLT (the community assets) are well-maintained as permanently affordable for generations;
• Advance the ability of individual residents /occupants to thrive / build their own assets

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Selected Accomplishments

Portfolio Overview

• Incorporated Sept. 2019 as a fully independent, membership nonprofit; IRS status recv’d 9/2020
• 220+ Members: Consistent community engagement; monthly strategy & planning by Board
• Training & Capacity Building for Co-ops & Condos
• Annual Meetings & election of new board members
• Successfully partnering with residents, nonprofits & for-profit developers & service providers
• Matched Saving Accounts & THRIVE Cash Transfer program
• Initiated a Limited Equity Housing Cooperative Share Loan program
• Covid 19 relief: basic resource delivery; assistance with refinancing & applying for ERAP, HAF
• Recognition of benefit of model by DC government: DC Comprehensive Plan, DMPED parcel award, $2M funding in FY 22 budget

UNDERWAY::

• Langston Slater: 6 (of 12) new construction ownership with DCNOVA Habitat; awarded by DC gov. (<60%MFI)
• Pay It Forward For-Sale Homes: 2 home sold at $300k & $210k below market by middle class DC residents; now being resold!
• Skyland Homes: 8 new construction ownership with Habitat in Skyland (<60%MFI)
• 34-unit resident purchase & conversion to ownership (30-60%)

PIPELINE(selected)

• 17 new construction ownership with nonprofit developer
• Expansion of Pay It Forward Single Family For Sale program
• 25-unit TOPA conversion (3 & 4 bdrms)
• Sm. apt. bldg program in SE; and 10-unit mixed-use NW
• Respondent team for Reeves redevelopment; Southwest?

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225 units

Permanently affordable