Congress Heights Housing: Turning Nothing into Something

A vacant DC police substation located at 1320 Mississippi Avenue Southeast in the Congress Heights neighborhood south of Anacostia will soon be available for 19 "vulnerable" DC families. The building is being developed by William C. Smith + Co., and its construction arm WCS. The red-brick building originally went up as an apartment complex in 1950 and was remodeled into a Metropolitan Police Department substation in 1973, but was abandoned thereafter and has sat vacant, with boarded-up windows, for nearly 3 decades. Dilapidated conditions required WCS to do an all-out gut of the structure; the interior was taken down to "the bare bones" and given a thorough hazmat remediation and abatement (lead, mold, asbestos). Some demolition was necessary, however the sturdy exterior will remain largely intact upon project completion. A good portion of the building will by ADA compliant, with wheelchair ramp access and a three-story hydraulic elevator.

Located on land owned by the District, the project was realized due to the coordination between: the Dept. of Human Services (DHS); the Dept. of Housing and Community Development (DHCD); and the DC Housing Authority (DCHA). William C. Smith + Co. and DC-based non-profit Community of Hope (COH) submitted a response to a "consolidated" request for proposals that was put into motion in 2008. Moving relatively quickly, all parties met with Ward 8 ANC groups to ease misconceptions that the unit would be a shelter - which the community opposed - and WCS broke ground on construction for the $3.8 million project at the end of last fall. The project is currently on track to be completed in early fall. A project that caters to a "vulnerable" part of the population is not new in the building's surrounding area, which has seen its share of socially minded projects including an attempt by the now defunct Peaceaholics - a non-profit that aimed to reform troubled youths and stop gang violence - to develop a halfway house that did not pan out. 

Yet this project is unique in that it will cater to families, and tenants will be determined by a Vulnerability Assessment Survey (as is procedure under the guidelines of DHS's Permanent Supportive Housing Program) and Community of Hope will provide on-going case management services to the families on site. Having support services on site is a hallmark of COH's approach to combating homelessness; however, it will be the first time on-site services are incorporated into a DHS-owned project. Because the families will be responsible for lease payments there is an expectation of responsibility that Community of Hope believes will be well-received by the neighborhood. In other words: it's not a homeless shelter. Judging by past successes - last year COH placed 113 homeless families in subsidized housing and 111 made good on rent payments, remaining stably housed - executive director of COH, Kelly Sweeney McShane, says that she hopes for similar results here.

Washington D.C. real estate development news