February 27, 2025 Ward 3 Affordable Housing News Digest
Government Activity
District of Columbia
DMPED Prepares to Present Chevy Chase Proposals to the Public
At the February 26 D.C. Council oversight hearing for the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development (DMPED), DMPED’s Director of Real Estate, Pam Frentzel-Beyme, testified that DMPED will hold a public meeting by the end of March to present qualified bids responding to the Request for Proposals (RFP) on the Chevy Chase Civic Core redevelopment project to the public. Videorecording at 1:26:15. Presumably that means notice of that meeting will be issued in the next few days.
Frentzel-Beyme also said that the record will be open for comments for 60 days after the meeting, and that DMPED hopes to select a developer for the project by the end of June.
The RFP requires proposals to include housing at the site, in addition to a rebuilt library and community center, and that at least 30% of the housing be dedicated affordable. Those who have spoken to some of the development teams expect that at least some of the bids will provide for 100% dedicated affordable housing.
ANC 3/4G sent DMPED a letter on February 20 complaining about DMPED’s lack of engagement with the ANC and the community. The letter reiterated demands the ANC had made in a September 23, 2024 resolution about the timing and structure of community engagement.
Chevy Chase Rezoning Addressed at Oversight Hearing
On February 25, the D.C. Council’s Committee of the Whole held an oversight hearing for the Office of Zoning (OZ) and the Office of Planning (OP). Several witnesses at the hearing addressed the process by which OP proposed, and the Zoning Commission (ZC) approved, zoning changes for the Chevy Chase Civic Core and several surrounding blocks along upper Connecticut Avenue.
ANC 3/4G commissioner Elizabeth Nagy testified on behalf of the ANC, presenting testimony that the ANC had approved the night before without ever making a draft available for public review. The written testimony is still not on the ANC website, but a link can be found on the Council’s hearing page. Nagy’s oral testimony can be found on the Videorecording beginning at 1:40:18.
Sheryl Barnes, head of the anti-development group Chevy Chase Voice (CCV), testified with respect to both the Zoning Commission (Videorecording at 1:44:50) and the Office of Planning (Videorecording at 3:40:00). CCV’s lawyer Ed Hanlon testified in his personal capacity (Videorecording at 1:48:25) about zoning for city development projects at both 1617 U Street, N.W., and the Chevy Chase Civic Core.
Council Chair Phil Mendelson questioned Nagy and Barnes skeptically about their claim that the Zoning Commission was required to use contested case procedures, rather than rulemaking procedures, for the Chevy Chase rezoning (Videorecording at 2:00:55-2:06:25). Mendelson said that, given the extent of the area rezoned, he's not surprised it was treated as a rulemaking rather than a contested case. He also questioned how the ANC was hindered by the lack of a contested case, noting that while rulemaking procedures are different, they still allow ANCs extensive participation. When Barnes said there's no right to appeal from a rulemaking decision, Mendelson said, "That's not correct."
Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis-George joined for part of the hearing and asked some questions that allowed Barnes to make the questionable claim that landlords up and down Connecticut Avenue are emptying out existing buildings in anticipation of higher rents after upzoning (Videorecording at 3:54:10).
Lewis-George later questioned OP Director Anita Cozart (Videorecording at 4:52:20) as to whether the Civic Core meets the statutory standard for surplus and disposition, since "it still has public usage," which Cozart acknowledged. Lewis-George then made a cursory pitch for social housing, although she has not (yet) reintroduced her Green New Deal for Housing Amendment Act in the new legislative session. It went nowhere in the last session.
OP Provides Timeline for Comprehensive Plan Revision
The Office of Planning (OP) is beginning an extensive rewrite of D.C.’s Comprehensive Plan, to be called DC 2050, and was scheduled to brief advisory neighborhood commissioners about the process on February 27.
OP Director Anita Cozart addressed the expected timeline for revising the Comp Plan at OP’s February 25 oversight hearing before the D.C. Council’s Committee of the Whole, saying OP would begin the process in the next two weeks, with the hope of submitting it for Council approval by June 2027. Videorecording at 4:20:00; OP Responses to Questions for the Agency Performance Oversight Hearing on FY 2024-2025, at 18-19 (link available here).
Mayor Bowser has now scheduled a launch event for March 3 at 11:00 a.m. Information and registration here. OP’s webpage on the Comp Plan is here.
D.C. Preservation League to Study Equity Effects of Historic Preservation
At the Council oversight hearing on February 25 for the Office of Planning, Rebecca Miller, Executive Director of the D.C. Preservation League (DCPL), announced that DCPL has entered into a cooperative agreement with the Office of Planning “to produce a Historic Preservation Impact Report for the District of Columbia. The study is centered around equity, particularly racial equity, resilience, and affordability, and will provide essential new data and analysis and serve as a launch pad for further public engagement centered around the preparation of the Comprehensive Plan.” Videorecording at 3:23:50 and 3:59:50.
Miller’s written testimony (link on the hearing page) explains that in the lead-up to the creation of a new Comprehensive Plan, the Historic Preservation Office (HPO) “needs to understand the positive and negative impacts current historic preservation initiatives create within the District. Historic preservation is said to strengthen communities by contributing to small business incubation, affordable housing, and neighborhood stabilization. Other arguments claim that historic preservation is exclusionary, encourages the displacement of BIPOC communities, and inflates housing costs.”
Many cities have studied the impacts of historic preservation, but D.C., with one of the highest proportions of historic properties nationwide (20% of property owners), has not had a comparable study. Miller said that HPO is not funding the report; DCPL is in the process of raising $126,000 to pay for it. HPO has worked with DCPL on the outline of the report, which DCPL hopes to finish by the end of this year.
Last April, HPO deferred submitting the application to designate Chevy Chase as a historic district to the Historic Preservation Review Board, given “the lack of community consensus and concerns about the proposed boundaries, as well as the
need to conduct a citywide analysis in order to more effectively evaluate historic district nominations.” At the time, HPO said it would “begin data collection, mapping, and equity analysis of historic resources across the District. This work will be critical in informing HPO’s evaluation of future historic district proposals.” Presumably, this study by DCPL is that equity analysis.
DMPED Report for Oversight Hearing
In anticipation of its February 26 oversight hearing before the D.C. Council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development (DMPED) provided lengthy written responses to the committee’s pre-hearing questions. A link to the responses can be found on the committee’s Hearing Page. Notable points from the document include:
DMPED’s top priorities for 2025 include (page 35-36):
Provide affordable housing at all income levels. DMPED is working to stabilize the existing affordable housing ecosystem in the District and ensure that the District can continue to build affordable housing in the future. Specific initiatives to support the preservation and delivery of affordable housing include:
Developing a new 2030 housing goal for the District, following achievement of the prior goal to create 36,000 new housing units by 2025.
Make permanent changes to pandemic-era housing policies that had exacerbated rent delinquencies in affordable units.
Pursue the recommendations of the RENTAL Act to stabilize the affordable housing market and ensure the District continues to be able to deliver affordable housing units.
Last year DMPED commissioned a Housing Demand and Neighborhood Change Study. The study is intended to provide a forecast of housing demand, an analysis of neighborhood change and displacement, and an evaluation of
housing supply policies to support and inform key housing initiatives and strategies. A final report is expected in the second quarter of 2025. (Page 19)
In 2019, Mayor Bowser set a goal for D.C. to build 36,000 new homes, expand the supply of affordable housing by 12,000 homes, and preserve 100 percent of affordable housing by 2025. With 40,178 new housing units delivered since
January 2019, the District has achieved 112% progress toward the 36,000-unit goal. During that same period, 10,515 new affordable units have also been delivered, which represents 88% progress toward the affordable housing goal. (Page 50)
With respect to the multifamily housing development pipeline, CoStar is projecting delivery of approximately 3,300 multifamily units in the remainder of calendar year 2025, 2,400 units in 2026, 3,600 units in 2027, and 3,200 units in 2028. This represents a decrease compared to the annual average of approximately 6,850 multifamily units delivered between 2019-2024. The decrease is largely due to macroeconomic factors including elevated interest rates and increased construction costs. (Page 50)
Answering a question about the biggest opportunities DMPED has evaluated to increase the pipeline of affordable housing in the District, the agency said, “The biggest opportunities DMPED has identified are the repositioning
and/or the co-location of District assets, regardless of agency, with affordable housing. The Housing Demand and Neighborhood Change Assessment will be instrumental in informing strategies for affordable housing investments in the future.” (Page 51)
The Housing in Downtown (HID) Program is an innovative program designed to catalyze new residential development through commercial-to-residential conversion via a 20- year tax abatement. Projects must result in at least ten units of housing and must include affordable housing. As of January 24, 2025, DMPED has conditionally approved four commercial-to-residential developments for HID tax abatements. The four conditionally approved commercial-to-residential developments would produce 973 units, of which 10% would be provided at 60% of MFI:
1625 Mass. Ave. N.W. (157 units total, 16 affordable, delivering Oct. 2027)
1825-1875 Conn. Ave. N.W. (525 units total, 53 affordable, delivering May 2031)
613-617 H Street N.W. (72 units total, 8 affordable, delivering Oct 2026)
1133 19 St. N.W. (220 units total, 22 affordable, delivering July 2027)
(Page 29, 51-52)
Pages 58-61 have updates on the status of housing construction projects under the New Communities Initiative, including Barry Farm, Northwest One, Park Morton, and Bruce Monroe.
Board of Ethics Rejects Chevy Chase Voice Complaint
On February 7, Niquelle Allen, Director of Open Government at the Board of Ethics and Government Accountability, issued a letter dismissing a complaint filed by Chevy Chase Voice (CCV) claiming that the Zoning Commission (ZC) and Chairman Anthony Hood had violated the Open Meetings Act by giving inadequate public notice of the November 9, 2023, meeting at which the ZC set down proposed zoning changes for Chevy Chase for a public hearing.
Director Allen concluded that the ZC had not violated the Open Meetings Act, noting that “The ZC, through its advance use of the [D.C.] Register in tandem with the OZ’s [web]site, is actually among the District’s most organized and comprehensive systems of notice.” She also ruled that CCV had actual notice that the Chevy Chase matter was on the ZC’s agenda for the November 9 meeting.
Zoning Commission Approves IZ Exception for Wesley Seminary Project
At a meeting on February 27, the Zoning Commission voted to take final action in Case No. 24-09 to adopt a proposed text amendment to modify Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) requirements in order to enable Landmark Properties REIT to build a 9-story student apartment building on Wesley Theological Seminary’s campus.
The change is intended to allow Wesley to move forward with its project by funding at least the minimum amount of IZ units at an off-site location elsewhere in Ward 3. The revision adds a new section to the zoning regulations requiring Wesley “to provide off-site Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) at a minimum set-aside of eight percent (8%) or ten percent (10%) depending on construction type in Ward 3 as an enforceable condition to its 2022-2032 Campus Plan further processing to construct university housing on its campus and allowing the Commission to waive certain requirements for the off-site IZ.”
In response to comments from ANC 3E and the WIN Ward 3 Affordable Housing Work Group, the Commission removed language from the proposal that expressly authorized the Commission to reduce the required amount of affordable housing.
Federal
Government Layoffs Imperil HUD Services
A February 14 story in The Washington Post flagged some of the federal services that will be imperiled by President Trump’s mass layoffs of government workers. With respect to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the article said:
At [HUD], the cuts span teams responsible for public housing, fair housing enforcement, policy research, budgeting and homelessness. Multiple people within and close to the department said the numbers would devastate its workforce both in D.C. and in field offices nationwide.
As of Trump’s second day in office, for example, a memo obtained by The Post shows the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, which works to ensure Americans aren’t discriminated against when seeking a place to live, had 572 employees. By late May, it is projected to have 134 — a nearly 80 percent reduction. An agency spokesperson said HUD was “carrying out President Trump’s broader efforts to restructure and streamline the federal government to serve the American people at the highest standard.”
A subsequent Washington Post story [gift link] says “Sharp cuts at [HUD] are likely to upend housing markets, make homes less affordable and roil mortgage transactions, according to current and former employees, contractors and housing experts.” HUD’s workforce is projected to drop by about half — from about 8,300 employees to just over 4,000 — with deep cuts in field offices nationwide.
HUD officials have briefed employees on proposals to evict undocumented immigrants from public housing and impose time limits or work requirements for other residents.
Expected cuts run the gamut. Billions of dollars for homelessness initiatives are paused, affecting the bottom lines of nonprofits and local governments nationwide. Millions of dollars in funding for projects that improve energy efficiency, indoor air quality and climate resilience for certain HUD properties has been stopped. A contract involved in inspections for affordable housing units was nixed.
HUD staffers say the cuts appear to contrast with President Trump’s campaign promises to make housing more affordable. The pressure on HUD has already prompted a slew of key departures, including veteran officials who were among roughly 600 employees opting for the federal worker buyout program.
News/Commentary
District of Columbia
True Ground Looking to Buy Avalon the Albemarle for Affordable Housing
True Ground Housing Partners (formerly Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing, or APAH) is looking to buy Avalon the Albemarle apartment building at 4501 Connecticut Avenue in Van Ness, as reported by Teri Huet, the chair of ANC 3F’s Housing and Neighborhoods Committee, at a February 18 ANC meeting. Videorecording at 1:24:10.
According to a tenant in the building, True Ground met with tenants last week to discuss its plans and the tenant association’s rights under the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA). True Ground plans to convert the building to dedicated affordable housing, targeting the 60 to 80% median family income range. Existing tenants can stay as long as they want, with rent increases limited by covenant guarantees to 4.5% per year. After natural attrition, new tenants will have to meet the income restrictions.
Poll of D.C. Voters Finds Support for Increased Density
Greater Greater Washington reported on a poll it commissioned, along with two local realtor associations, to better understand how voters in the District perceive housing affordability and certain land-use and housing policies. Alex Baca and Dean Howell wrote that the poll found widespread concern with the high cost and inadequate supply of housing in the District, along with consistent support for increased density in all parts of the city, as well as for zoning and land-use policies that could increase housing production.
81% of respondents think housing affordability is a “very big” or “fairly big” problem.
71% of respondents favor allowing duplexes and triplexes to be built in areas currently zoned for single-family homes, while 63% support allowing four-plexes in such areas. Cross-tabs in the poll show majority support for four-plexes across all racial groups and in all wards.
67% favor reducing the minimum lot size for single-family homes to allow for homes to be built on smaller and less expensive lots.
53% favor reducing or removing parking requirements in new developments.
When asked, “If your Councilmember voted against policies to expand housing construction, such as voting against reforming zoning rules or developing more housing throughout D.C., would you be more likely or less likely to vote for them for reelection?,” 63% said they would be less likely to vote for that candidate, while 20% said they would be more likely.
Asked to weigh increasing housing production against maintaining neighborhood character, 63% said, “It's more important to lower housing costs by loosening certain land use regulations and zoning rules to increase housing development,” while 32% said, “It's more important to preserve the character of our neighborhoods by maintaining existing zoning rules and limiting housing development.”
Asked whether it would be appropriate to build new housing and increase housing density in certain areas or neighborhoods, for “Northwest neighborhoods, like Chevy Chase and Colonial Village,” 75% said yes and 22% said no. For “On publicly owned land or properties throughout the District,” 68% said yes and 28% said no.
Maryland
GEICO Moving Out of Friendship Heights
Dan Brendel of Washington Business Journal [subscription req’d] reports that insurance giant GEICO has told employees that it plans to move out of its Friendship Heights headquarters beginning in early 2026 and relocate to an office tower in downtown Bethesda. The company has occupied its headquarters campus at 5260 Western Avenue for more than 60 years.
The current campus has roughly 23 acres, occupied by several buildings between four and eight stories, as well as a large surface parking lot. GEICO’s message to employees said the company has “begun a productive dialogue” with Montgomery County and other public officials about “the future redevelopment” of the property, but hasn’t yet decided on a course of action.
Stories in Bisnow and Bethesda Magazine also quote the memo as saying, “As a responsible member of the Friendship Heights and Chevy Chase community, we are committed to being a good neighbor and working closely with local officials, community leaders and residents to identify and support property redevelopment that benefits and supports revitalization of the area.”
Nationwide
High Land Costs Inhibit Construction of Small Apartment Buildings
In a recent post for the Urban Institute, housing expert Yonah Freemark wrote that, “Small Apartment Buildings Can Help Address Housing Shortages, but High Land Costs and Interest Rates Are Limiting Construction.”
Freemark looked at cities that have adopted “missing middle” zoning reforms intended to increase the availability of small-scale apartment buildings. He found that results have been modest, in part because restrictive floor area ratio requirements and height limits have made building duplexes and triplexes difficult.
Freemark then modeled the costs of typical small-apartment projects in Washington, D.C., amid the current economic environment, and concluded that high costs of land and high loan rates are impeding construction of missing middle housing. High land acquisition costs particularly impede the development of duplexes and triplexes, but bigger buildings, such as six-plexes, can handle higher property costs.
High-cost cities that seek to generate additional low-density, infill housing construction may struggle to attract investment if their zoning policies are designed to allow the building of only duplexes or triplexes. To achieve financial feasibility in today’s market, local governments and states may need to enable the construction of 4, 5, 6, or even more units on previously single-family lots.
Other States
Life Above a Brooklyn Library
A story in The New York Times [gift link] tells the story of a single mother who lives at the Sunset Park Library and Apartments in Brooklyn, which opened in 2023 with the residential part built above the library. When the Brooklyn Public Library couldn’t afford necessary repair work for the old library, it partnered with the Fifth Avenue Committee, a nonprofit developer, to renovate the library and add 49 units of the affordable housing.
The 49 apartments include eight that benefit from a project-based Section 8 subsidy program and nine set aside for families and individuals who formerly experienced homelessness. To qualify for the lottery to get one of the apartments, Miguelina Minier had to have an income between 30 and 80% of the area median income. After entering housing lotteries more than 38 times, her number finally came up. She was selected out of 60,000 applicants.
Calendar
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 3 — Mayor Bowser’s launch event for DC 2050, the process to develop D.C.’s next Comprehensive Plan, 11:00 a.m. at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, 555 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. More information and registration here.
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 10 — Next regular meeting of ANC 3/4G (Chevy Chase), 6:30-8:30, virtually via Zoom.
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.
March 17 — Next regular meeting of ANC 3C (Cleveland Park and Woodley Park), 7:00-9:00, online.
March 18 — Next regular meeting of ANC 3F (Van Ness), 7:00-9:00 p.m., online.
March 18 — Next regular meeting of ANC 3A (Middle Wisconsin Avenue), 7:00 p.m., at the McLean Gardens Ballroom and virtually via Zoom.
To let us know of something we should add, please email christopher.vaden78@gmail.com.