Yet Another Affordable Housing Project For Columbia Heights

The contract to design, develop, and build a 37-unit affordable housing project at 1421 Euclid Street, NW has been awarded to Euclid Community Partners, a triad consisting of Dantes Partners, Perdomo Group, and Capital Construction Enterprises. Developers and city officials say this $11.5 million Justice Park project will offset gentrification trends in the area, and help Ward One and Columbia Heights to remain a diverse and multi-dimensional community. The rental apartments will be marketed to those in the local workforce making no more than 60% of the Average Median Income (AMI). Mayor Fenty, Ward One Councilman Jim Graham, the Deputy Mayor of Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) Valerie Santos, and ANC1B Chairman Gail Holness were all in attendance to officially award the winning contract, and voice their support for the project. Other proposals competing for the contract offered mixed-income developments with only small portions designated as affordable housing units. Clearly affordable "workforce" housing was the priority of the Mayor and his staff, as he elaborated

on his delight at finalized contract, saying: "there was a lot of talk, scrutiny, and debate at city hall about this project ... but we are all glad that the talking has stopped, and the action has gotten back on track."

Questions were raised in the competitive bidding process for this project, but Dantes Parnters now has several opportunities to produce and prove their critics wrong, as principal Buwa Binitie and his company have become actively involved in the development of several other District-owned properties. Binitie and Dantes Partners are bearing the entire load of development responsibilities for the VIDA Senior Residences project at Brightwood and the 5-story, 44-unit residential building on Chapin Street. They have also partnered with EastBanc Inc. as regular favorite project-winners of the Fenty administration, sharing development of the long-neglected West End fire station, library, and police unit buildings, as well as the Hine School redevelopment.

The current 12,325 s.f. Justice Park will cease to be a place for public recreation and become home to construction equipment sometime in mid 2012. That is if the PUD application process or financing struggles don't slow down the project, a common story line for many other developments. In the meantime, a new Justice Park will be constructed across the street on a District owned plot of land that Fenty describes as "lower to the ground, closer to the street, and more accessible to kids, seniors, and families." In addition to the modern design, efficient appliances, class A amenities, front and rear balconies, and rooftop terrace being offered at the new building, Dantes Partners has also agreed to fund the yearly maintenance costs of the new park on the south-side of Euclid. Banneker Ventures, teaming with Regan Associates, will develop the park using a budget of $750,000, but have yet to contract an architectural firm for the design.

Fenty and Santos each stressed their "ongoing commitment" to affordable housing, a rebuttal to the criticism for lack of action on Parcel 42 and other vacant District lots that has angered some city residents, even inspiring protests. But as Councilman Graham's website brags, federal funding has been undoubtedly strong for "workforce" housing: 2,500 units of low-income housing have been preserved and renovated and $256 million of public and private funds have been spent on affordable housing in the last five years. While some detractors contend that affordable housing serves to concentrate poverty and devalue adjacent property, Jim Graham insisted that they were ensuring that "our firefighters, our librarians, our new teachers, and many others" have access to affordable housing. Dantes Partners has projected that their two-bedroom units will cost roughly $1,400 per month, significantly less than the average market rate condo.

The unveiled renderings look suprisingly derivative of the general style of the Villagio apartment building next door. In addressing the press and community members, Buwa was careful to thank the Villagio and its owners for their cooperation and support during this initial design process. For the future residents who aren't lucky enough to have a view of the new park from their balconies, they are at least afforded the next best thing: some quality people watching, looking down on the adjacent BP gas station (and who doesn't look down on BP these days).

The ANC expressed support for the design and the project, but Dantes Partners, along with PGN Architects, will work with the community, ANC, and Zoning Commission to further refine their drawings in the coming months. The developers will seek a nine percent tax break through the District Housing Finance Agency's Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). And if that bid is rejected, the development team will be awarded a non-competitive four percent tax credit, and hope for an additional $4.1 million District subsidy.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News