Greetings Washingtonians,
The Administration of Mayor Muriel Bowser continues to implement
unrivaled strategies to produce and preserve affordable housing in the District.
Our latest achievement is the issuance
of long-awaited proposed regulations under the District Opportunity to
Purchase Act (DOPA).
DOPA
gives the Mayor the opportunity to purchase certain rental housing
accommodations to preserve their affordability. It is similar to and
complementary with the Tenant
Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), which gives tenants the right to
purchase their buildings.
Since its enactment in 2008, DOPA has not had any “teeth”
because regulations were needed to make the law functional. That’s why the issuance
of the new rules is significant.
Mayor Bowser has charged
me with using every tool in our toolbox to make more affordable housing happen
for District residents, which includes maximizing the leverage we have through
laws like DOPA. As chairperson of the Housing Preservation
Strike Force, I led the 18-member team in developing six
recommendations to preserve the District’s affordable housing stock—to include issuing
DOPA regulations.
We issued that Strike
Force recommendation in November 2016, and released the DOPA rules a little
over a year later, on December 22, 2017—ending a nine-year wait. We are now in
a 30-day public comment period which ends on January 23.* We expect the rules to
be finalized in Spring 2018. Shortly thereafter, the Mayor will use this new
regulatory power to preserve more affordable housing in the City.
Some may have believed
the DOPA regulations would never happen. When it comes to getting affordable housing
for District residents, however, Mayor Bowser and the DHCD team are committed
to removing the word “never” from our vocabulary, and to using every possible resource
to make affordable housing happen.
Polly Donaldson, DHCD Director
Follow me on Twitter @maryrandolph
*There is still time to provide written comment on the rules. Send them before January 23 to Danilo Pelletiere, DHCD, 1800 Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE, Washington, D.C. 20020, or dopa.input@dc.gov.
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Director Donaldson takes questions during Jan. 9 informational meeting at the Reeves Municipal Center.
It Was Standing Room Only at Three Vacant to Vibrant DC
Events
Over 450 persons attended three informational meetings to
learn more about Mayor Bowser’s Vacant to Vibrant DC initiative. Each
meeting—on January 9, 10 and 16—was standing room only, and in one case,
attendees were sitting on the floor. This shows the extremely high level of
interest in this five-point action plan to
transform the agency’s vacant property inventory into nearly 70 units of
workforce housing—representing over 150 residents—help to maintain green space,
teach how tiny homes can fit into the DC landscape and spur more $5 million in
economic development for small businesses.
The attendees represented a variety of
groups—real estate investors, real estate agents, community representatives,
homeowners and future home buyers. No matter what their category, attendees were
most interested in Action 1—Auctioning Off
to Gain Affordability: An online auction by Alex Cooper Auctioneers of approximately 35 sites
that will be redeveloped into workforce housing. The question and answer sections
at all three events were robust, with questions ranging from specifics on the
bidding process and how homeowners and buyers can participate, to the potential
for new programs that would further spur homeownership.
The January 16 meeting
was focused completely on the auction, which
begins tomorrow at 1 pm and ends January 23 at 1 p.m. A copy of the PowerPoint
presentation is on our website, and the entire meeting is available for
viewing.
Those meetings were not the only ones on our Vacant to Vibrant DC agenda. Deputy Mayor Brian Kenner and Director Donaldson participated in a Facebook Live overview of the plan. Director Donaldson paid a separate visit to the January meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 7C to answer their questions, because several properties are located in the Deanwood neighborhood of Ward 7.
#Vacant2VibrantDC
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Living Steps from Nationals Park, Thanks to IZ Program
The small, dimly light basement apartment didn’t suit Kal
Peete. To her, the place always felt cramped and cold, but it was affordable.
Although the surrounding neighborhood had a quaint charm, it
lacked retail options within walking distance. The closest Metro stations being
a mile away didn’t help either.
“I had limited access to restaurants, retail stores or
grocery stores,” said Peete, a mother of a three-year-old child. After
exploring her options, she enrolled in the IZ program and was chosen at random
to live in a new constructed one-bedroom apartment at First Residences in the Navy Yard
neighborhood.
“Now, l live a block away from [Nationals Park], in a spacious
one-bedroom apartment with unlimited natural light," said Peete. “When I walk
out of my building, I have my pick from several restaurants and retail stores
that are within steps or blocks from my home.”
DHCD uses a lottery process to randomly
select households meeting income restrictions and other criteria on a rolling
basis as units become available.When units became
available at First Residences, Peete quickly entered her name into the lottery
and fortunately had her name picked.
“The IZ program has enabled me to upgrade my family's
lifestyle at a cost I can afford,” she said. “Best of all, I only have to walk
one block to the nearest Metro station or bus stop.”
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Over $2.5M in HPTF Financing Will Preserve Affordable Housing in Ward 5
Mayor Bowser announced that DHCD provided $2.57 million
in Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF) financing to Tivoli Gardens LLC for the
acquisition of a 49-unit apartment building at 4811 North Capitol Street, NE.
The tenant association assigned its right to purchase the
building to the developer, which will allow them to remain in affordable
housing units.
“By continuing
our historic investments in the Housing Production Trust Fund and using laws
like the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, we can preserve our existing
housing stock while getting more Washingtonians keys to their own home,” said Mayor Bowser.
Thirty-seven affordable units will be available for
households at or below $66,180 (60 percent of MFI) and
remain affordable for no less than 40 years; eight units will be available for
households at or below $55,150 (50 percent of MFI ); and four
units will be available for households at or below $33,090 (30 percent of MFI).
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