February 14, 2025 Ward 3 Affordable Housing News Digest
District of Columbia
Mayor Bowser Announces Proposed RENTAL Act
On February 12, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a wide-ranging package of proposed legislation — dubbed the Rebalancing Expectations for Neighbors, Tenants, and Landlords Act (or “RENTAL Act”) — intended to address challenges facing the District’s affordable housing system. A webpage with links about the proposal is here, and the slide deck from the presentation is here.
"Our collective citywide commitment to affordable housing has made DC a national model for success. But that hard-won progress is at risk," Bowser said in a press release. "We now must act with similar urgency to protect the affordable housing that is home to nearly 100,000 Washingtonians and ensure our ability to build more housing.”
Many current affordable housing providers are struggling to cover expenses because of increased costs and nonpayment of rent. Many have an “economic vacancy” rate of 15% to 20%, meaning units that are either empty or occupied by tenants who aren't paying their rent. A stable system would have a vacancy rate no higher than 5%, officials said. "We are at risk of losing affordable units because too many people aren’t paying their rent," Bowser tweeted. "The financial strain on housing providers threatens property maintenance, security, and sustainability."
"I've never seen anything like we're experiencing in D.C.," Janine Lind, president of Enterprise Community Development, said at the February 12 announcement event. With the firm's rent collections for its D.C. properties at an all-time low, the amount in arrearage has more than doubled since 2021 — meaning that traditional lenders won't provide loans or equity, she said. Lind said that in 2021, Enterprise’s 17 D.C. properties had about $1.3 million in unpaid rent; last year, that number soared to more than $7 million.
Priya Jayachandran, chief executive of the National Housing Trust (NHT), said many of the organization’s D.C. properties are at risk of foreclosure and are unable to guarantee good conditions for tenants. It has “no cash” to deal with issues such as water penetration and broken lights in parking lots. “It doesn’t feel good to be a mission-based owner and in some ways to perpetuate conditions like that, but without cash flow, we have nothing that we can do,” she said. NHT currently has $4.97 million in rent delinquencies. Properties are at risk of foreclosure, and foreclosure would likely wipe out affordability restrictions.
“Rent arrears are at such a high level that if things don’t change soon, I fear that many committed affordable properties will go into foreclosure, losing their affordability covenants,” Steven Palmer, director of public policy at the Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers, said in a statement.
Bisnow’s Jon Banister reports that among the most significant proposals in the legislative package are measures to accelerate eviction cases in the courts and to exempt market-rate and some mixed-income apartment buildings from D.C.’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) — a law that industry insiders say has crippled the city's multifamily sales market.
TOPA rights would no longer apply to the sale of market-rate buildings, but only to properties where more than half of the tenants earn 80% or less of the area median income. Administration officials described the change as necessary to focus the program on preserving naturally-occurring affordable housing and encourage national investors who are currently spooked by 18-month delays caused by the TOPA process to invest in market-rate buildings. The D.C. Council previously agreed to a similar exemption in connection with downtown housing incentives. The bill would also prevent refinancing and recapitalization of properties from triggering TOPA.
The mayor's bill extends the temporary changes to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) enacted by the Council in October, which repealed laws that allow tenants to self-attest proof of eligibility. The changes also removed the pandemic-era provision that automatically delayed eviction cases for any tenant that applied for ERAP funding, and it gave judges more discretion in those cases.
The bill would also restore the Department of Housing and Community Development’s (DHCD) authority to acquire and reposition vacant properties, which leaders say will “increase investment in communities and create more opportunities for affordable housing developments.”
At Washington Business Journal [subscription req’d], Ben Peters explains that the bill would also:
Authorize eviction if a tenant or other occupant of a rental unit is arrested or charged with a violent offense that occurred in or adjacent to the property.
Modify eviction timelines in court to be consistent with pre-pandemic timelines and neighboring jurisdictions and to provide a "fair and predictable" eviction process.
Expand the number of units eligible for project-based Local Rent Supplement Program vouchers by changing the threshold from 30% of the area median income to 50% of AMI.
Make permanent the D.C. Housing Authority’s temporary governance structure, retaining the Stabilization and Reform Board of Commissioners put in place two years ago to ensure the agency has resources to improve its “policies, processes, operations, finances and overall agency effectiveness.”
Clarify that D.C. is not liable for damages under consumer protection laws when supporting affordable housing projects as a lender.
Implement technical measures to ensure that DHCD can utilize D.C.’s FY25 Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) allocation for affordable housing projects.
Chris Kain at District Links and Jenny Gathright at The Washington Post also had stories on Bowser’s proposal. At The Washington Informer, Sam P.K. Collins reported on reactions to the proposal.
Tenant advocates criticized the proposal. “This bill will displace low-income residents if passed,” a spokesperson for Legal Aid DC told Bisnow in a statement. “With sweeping changes to TOPA rights, eviction protections, rental assistance and more, the draft legislation further shifts the blame and burden of DC’s affordable housing crisis onto the lowest-income residents.”
Also at the February 12 event, Mayor Bowser and DHCD’s Colleen Green announced the selection of 69 projects through DHCD’s 2024 Consolidated Request for Proposals (RFP) to provide bridge, gap, and support funding to stabilize the finances of existing affordable multi-family projects. The properties applied for up to $144 million in funding. The District’s investments will preserve nearly 8,000 units of housing, of which over 7,700 are affordable. The D.C. Housing Finance Agency has also deployed $6.2 million from its Portfolio Stabilization Grant program for this purpose, and has another $3.8 million available to deploy.
Landlords Owe D.C. More Than $40 Million in Unpaid Housing Violations
An investigation by Washington City Paper revealed that landlords have accrued millions in housing violation fines that have gone uncollected by the District, which could disincentivize housing owners from addressing maintenance and security issues with their properties.
The article highlights an apartment complex at 3003 Van Ness St., N.W., where as of August 1, 2024, the landlord owed the District more than $1.2 million in unpaid fines for more than 700 violations since 2018. But the Department of Buildings (DOB) recently dismissed the bulk of the property’s pending fines after discovering that its internal system had failed to notice that, in some cases, its emails informing the property owners of infractions had bounced back. But DOB acknowledged that some of the underlying safety violations continue to plague the residents.
City-wide, landlords have accrued more than $40 million in unpaid fees assessed since 2018.
The eight-figure tally of unpaid housing violation fines is due, in large part, to the complex administrative process that governs how code violations are handled. Housing experts say that, by allowing so many fines to go uncollected, the District is disincentivizing landlords from urgently addressing even the most egregious conditions.
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Ward 3 Councilmember Matthew Frumin, whose ward includes the Van Ness property, says that too often landlords are able to exploit the DOB’s failure to collect on unpaid fines in order to avoid making crucial repairs.
“Landlords are playing the system,” he says, noting that tenants can face monthslong delays in seeing some safety issues addressed. “You could have had a year plus of noncompliance with no punishment.”
Frumin says the solution is legislative changes that would allow the DOB to impose fines directly, bypassing administrative hearings entirely.
“We’re trying to empower DOB to directly issue fines and do the collection,” he says about legislation that he is working to prepare and eventually introduce to the Council. “We need a culture that drives compliance and deterrence.”
OP to Propose Wisconsin Avenue Zoning Changes
At the February 13 meeting of ANC 3E (Friendship Heights and Tenleytown), the Office of Planning (OP) made a presentation on zoning changes it intends to propose to implement the Wisconsin Avenue Development Framework. Meeting Video starting at 55:45. The proposal as outlined would focus on three zones:
A high-density, mixed-use Friendship Heights Metro Zone, with building heights up to 130 feet and a floor-area ratio (FAR) of 7.8 or, with inclusionary zoning-plus (IZ+), 9.0.
A high-density mixed-use Tenleytown Metro Zone, with heights up to 110 feet and a FAR of 7.2 (7.8 with IZ+).
A medium-density mixed-use corridor zone from Tenley Circle south to Rodman Street, with maximum heights of 75 feet and a FAR with IZ+ of 5.4.
OP also contemplates that the new zoning would include design guidelines, and that, while maximum heights, FAR, and lot occupancy would be set by the zoning regulations, development projects would still have to be submitted to the Zoning Commission for a design review process in a contested case proceeding.
OP anticipates submitting the rezoning application to the Zoning Commission in early spring, with an eye toward having a public hearing this summer.
OP to Propose Changes to the RA-1 Zone
The Office of Planning (OP) is preparing to propose a zoning text amendment to revise what can be built as a matter of right (i.e., without going through a special exception process before the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA)) in areas already zoned RA-1. OP will make a presentation about the proposal at the February 19 meeting of ANC 3A (Middle Wisconsin Avenue), which contains a fair number of properties zoned RA-1.
RA-1 is a residential apartment zone that allows low- to moderate-density residential development, including detached houses, row houses, and low-rise apartments. While new one-family detached and semi-detached dwellings are allowed by-right, new rowhouses, flats (a building with two principal units), or multi-family buildings currently require special exception review, subject to conditions imposed by the BZA. Under the proposed change, townhouse dwellings and apartment buildings of 4 units or less would be permitted by-right.
OP expects to submit an application for the change to the Zoning Commission this month, with setdown expected in March. OP’s presentation materials can be found here.
Councilmembers Introduce Fair Housing Practices Amendment
On February 13, Councilmember Charles Allen and 7 co-sponsors introduced B26-0126, the Fair Housing Practices Amendment Act of 2025. The bill would prohibit housing providers from separately charging tenants for utility charges accrued for the building’s common areas, and require that housing providers notify a tenant of any unpaid amounts owed to the housing provider within 45 days after vacating a rental unit.
The bill responds to concerns raised by tenants of several multi-unit residential buildings across the District that were beginning to charge tenants for the electricity, water, or gas usage of common spaces in the building, often pointing to overbroad and vague provisions in the lease allowing them to pass on these costs to tenants through a monthly fee.
Frumin Introduces Bill to Extend Tax Exemption Deadline for SOME
On February 14, Ward 3 Councilmember Matt Frumin introduced B26-0125, the 2607 Connecticut Avenue NW Timeline Extension and Tax Forgiveness Act of 2025. The bill would allow the organization So Others Might Eat (SOME) to apply for a tax exemption pursuant to the Nonprofit Workforce Housing Properties Real Property Tax Exemption Amendment Act of 2019.
The introduction memorandum explains that SOME opened its first Ward 3 housing at 2607 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., in 2023, providing 23 units of affordable housing in a Metro-accessible location. Lease-up was delayed due to various interactions with DHCD and the Department of Human Services, and only one lease was signed in the first year. The bill extends the deadline for SOME to apply for a tax exemption from 12 months to 36 months after property acquisition, allowing SOME to benefit from the tax incentive the Council intended to support such housing.
Maryland
Planning Board Approves Friendship Heights Sector Plan Scope of Work
At its February 6 meeting, the Montgomery County Planning Board approved the Friendship Heights Sector Plan Scope of Work and the plan boundary, which encompasses downtown Friendship Heights and includes the portion of the Brookdale neighborhood east of River Road that is adjacent to the GEICO headquarters property. The plan website is here.
With the approval of the Scope of Work, the planning team will continue its analysis and then come back to the community and the Planning Board later this spring to present an Existing Conditions analysis, outlining the present-day conditions of the plan area as it relates to land use, housing, transportation, economy, the environment, and parks and public spaces.
News/Commentary
District of Columbia
Chevy Chase Voice Refiles Lawsuit Over Chevy Chase Zoning Procedures
On February 13, the anti-development group Chevy Chase Voice refiled its lawsuit challenging the Zoning Commission’s decision to consider proposed rezoning of the Chevy Chase Civic Core site using rulemaking procedures rather than contested case procedures. The case is Chevy Chase Voice, Inc. v. Anthony Hood, Case No. 2025-CAB-000883 (D.C. Superior Ct.). The case is assigned to Judge Robert Okun, who set an initial scheduling conference for May 16.
The lawsuit is limited to the Civic Core site. The claims for relief in the complaint relate to the procedures the Zoning Commission used, rather than the substantive merits of the Commission’s final rezoning decision, or any aspect of the Commission’s proceeding related to other properties along Connecticut Avenue in Chevy Chase.
A previous suit by Chevy Chase Voice was dismissed as premature because the Zoning Commission had not yet taken final action; that dismissal is on appeal to the D.C. Court of Appeals.
Friendship Terrace Converts Units to Affordable Housing
WTOP reported that, following a $16 million renovation, Friendship Terrace at 42nd and Butterworth Streets in Tenleytown has converted 125 of its 180 senior apartments to dedicated affordable housing units for older adults. Seabury Resources for the Aging, which runs the facility, also established a $2 million Food Trust to ensure that low-income residents have access to affordable meals.
A press release from Seabury explained that the 125 units of deeply affordable housing are available to seniors earning 30% or less of the Area Median Income. An earlier press release explained that
Seabury worked with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the DC Housing Authority to structure the $16 million refinancing, which includes securing 125 new project-based vouchers for the Friendship Terrace community. This brings the total number of vouchers available for low-income seniors to 165 units and ensures Friendship Terrace residents residing in vouchered units will not pay more than 30 percent of their income for rent.
According to Seabury, 30% of of seniors in the D.C. area struggle with housing instability, with only 15% of available housing units deemed affordable for those on fixed incomes.
FRIT Delays Start of Friendship Heights Construction
In early 2023, Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRIT) obtained Zoning Commission approval for a planned unit development (PUD) to redevelop Friendship Center (Maggiano’s, DSW) in Friendship Heights into a residential building.
The project will provide 310 new housing units where none exist now. A minimum of 15.43% of the residential floor area will be reserved as affordable housing under the Inclusionary Zoning (“IZ”) program, including at least two units reserved for households earning no more than 30% of Median Family Income (“MFI”); 7.93% reserved as IZ units for households earning no more than 60% MFI; and the remaining balance of the IZ set-aside reserved as IZ units for households earning no more than 50% MFI.
At an ANC 3E meeting on February 13, FRIT executive Geoff Sharpe stated that, due to economic uncertainty and resulting financing difficulties, construction on the project would not start before 2026. The company had been planning to commence construction in September of this year.
Tenleytown/AU Park Development Moving at a Snail’s Pace
As part of its series of rundowns on development in different D.C. neighborhoods, Urban Turf took a look at the anemic progress in Tenleytown/American University Park. “The development pipeline in the Tenleytown and AU Park neighborhoods has dwindled in recent years, as some projects are finally getting started and others appear to be in limbo.”
Specifically, “Construction looks to have slowed at the office-to-residential development at 4620-4624 Wisconsin Avenue.” The Broadcast Building is expected to deliver 144 apartments, 15 of which will be set aside for households earning up to 60% of area median income (AMI).
The future of the development planned at the former Dancing Crab, 4615 Wisconsin Avenue N.W. “is uncertain. The proposed project -- a seven-story building with 41 apartments -- was granted a two-year extension to its zoning approval that expired last year, and construction still has yet to start.”
Eight years after being proposed, the plans to redevelop the former Superfresh grocery site in AU Park/Spring Valley are finally moving forward. The development team secured financing earlier this year, and it appears that demolition of the old building has begun. That project will have 219 residential units, of which 12% will be inclusionary zoning units.
D.C. Metro Area
D.C. Area Ranks Second in Office-to-Apartment Conversions
A new report from RentCafe shows the D.C. metro area second only to New York City in the number of units in the office-to apartment conversion pipeline, with 6,533 future apartments to be converted. “A key conversion in the area is the Universal Buildings project at 1825-1875 Connecticut Ave. NW. The property — totaling more than 1 million square feet — will be transformed into The Geneva, a residential complex containing 525 new apartments with at least 69 affordable units.”
Nationally, office conversions make up almost 42% of the nearly 169,000 apartments in future adaptive reuse projects. The number of apartments set to be converted from office spaces has skyrocketed from 23,100 in 2022 to a record-breaking 70,700 in 2025.
Nationwide
Analyses of the Housing Market
Moody's found that the vacancy rate for dedicated affordable housing across the country was just 2.7% in the fourth quarter of 2024, despite a 17.1% expansion in inventory over the last five years. In comparison, Class-A apartment inventory has grown by 21.6% over that same time period, and the national vacancy rate for Class-A properties is now 7.6%. “Despite regional differences, our data highlights notable demand from renters for affordable housing units, evident across the country.”
J.P. Morgan Research issued a report on the outlook for the housing market in 2025. The analysts expect house prices to rise by 3% overall in 2025, with the market “likely to remain largely frozen.” Existing home sales and inventory remain below historical averages. New homes for sale, though, are at the highest level since 2007.
President Trump has yet to unveil specific housing policy proposals, but he’s proposed two primary solutions for the shortage of affordable housing: (1) streamlining zoning approval processes to shorten construction timelines (though this would need to be addressed at a local level); and (2) making federal land available for new housing construction projects.
Other potential solutions, such as multifamily construction in areas zoned for single family homes, look unlikely under a Trump administration. Trump has generally opposed multifamily developments in predominantly single-family neighborhoods. In addition, a major campaign promise was to prevent low-income housing developments in suburban areas.
Short Takes From Around the Country
On February 11, the Fremont, California, city council voted to criminalize “aiding” or “abetting” homeless camps, an apparent first-of-its-kind measure that could make it harder for unhoused people to receive food, medical care and other services. Seven legal and homelessness experts told The Washington Post that the aiding and abetting language, nestled into a ban on homeless encampments, is unusually broad and marks a new frontier in homelessness crackdowns.
After a task force concluded that Kentucky is 206,207 housing units short of what it needs for its population, state lawmakers are considering a bevy of housing bills, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader, including bills to allow manufactured housing in residential zones, restrict the number of homes in any one community that could be acquired by real estate investors, allow religious institutions to develop affordable housing on their property in all residential or commercial zones, offer tax benefits to first-time home buyers, and allow local governments the authority to regulate short-term vacation rentals.
According to New Hampshire Bulletin, the housing crisis has sparked bipartisan interest in efforts to override local zoning codes. The chairman of the new House Housing Committee says too many cities and towns have zoning ordinances that keep property sizes large, impose unnecessary environmental restrictions on new developments, and keep too many people out.
[T]he Housing Committee is considering three pieces of legislation that could expand housing — and all three have bipartisan support. One would expand New Hampshire’s 2017 accessory dwelling unit law; one would prevent towns from imposing arbitrary minimum lot size requirements; and one would allow developers to build residential housing in commercial zones as a matter of right.
Calendar
February 18 — Next regular meeting of ANC 3F (Van Ness), 7:00-9:00 p.m., online. The agenda with a Zoom link is here.
February 18 — Next regular meeting of ANC 3C (Cleveland Park and Woodley Park), 7:00-9:00, online. The agenda and a registration link are here. The agenda includes a presentation from the Office of Planning on zoning implementation of the Connecticut Avenue Development Guidelines.
February 19 — Next regular meeting of ANC 3A (Middle Wisconsin Avenue), 7:00 p.m., virtual only, via Zoom. A meeting notice with agenda and Zoom link is here. The agenda includes 2 presentations by the Office of Planning: (1) zoning implementation of the Wisconsin Avenue Development Framework; and (2) a proposed zoning text amendment “to adjust and clarify how the BZA reviews proposed development in the RA-1 zone which applies to McLean Gardens, the Nebraska Avenue complex, and several other properties in ANC 3A.”
February 20 — Urban Land Institute (ULI) will present the final recommendations of the Van Ness / UDC / Intelsat Technical Assistance Panel (TAP), 3:30-5:00, in person at UDC and online. Details here.
February 24 — Regular meeting of ANC 3/4G (Chevy Chase), 6:30-8:30, virtually via Zoom.
February 25 — Performance oversight hearing for the Office of Zoning, Office of Planning, and Department of Buildings before the D.C. Council’s Committee of the Whole, 11:00-6:00. Streamed live at www.ChairmanMendelson.com/live.
February 25 — Special meeting of ANC 3/4G (Chevy Chase), 6:30-8:30 to discuss the ANC’s standing committees. Virtual.
February 26 — Performance oversight hearing for the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development before the D.C. Council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development, 9:30-1:30. Streamed live at www.youtube.com/channel/UCbFwXXcbCuQk3-zlwqe97mA/streams.
March 3 — Performance oversight hearing for the D.C. Housing Finance Agency, Department of Housing and Community Development, and Housing Production Trust Fund before the D.C. Council’s Committee on Housing, 9:30-5:30. Streamed live at www.youtube.com/@committeeonhousingdc.
March 5 — Performance oversight hearing (public witnesses only) for the Department of Human Services and Interagency Council on Homelessness before the D.C. Council’s Committee on Human Services, 9:30-3:00. Streamed live at www.dccouncil.gov.
March 6 — Performance oversight hearing for the D.C. Housing Authority before the D.C. Council’s Committee on Housing, 9:30-5:30. Streamed live at www.youtube.com/@committeeonhousingdc.
March 7 — Performance oversight hearing (government witnesses only) for the Department of Human Services and Interagency Council on Homelessness before the D.C. Council’s Committee on Human Services, 9:30-1:30. Streamed live at www.dccouncil.gov.
March 11 — Montgomery County Council hearings on the More Housing N.O.W. legislative package, 1:30 and 7:00 p.m., Council Office Building, 100 Maryland Ave, Rockville, MD - Third Floor Hearing Room, and via Zoom. Sign up to testify here.
March 13 — Next regular meeting of ANC 3E (Friendship Heights & Tenleytown), 7:30 p.m., online.
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