Jubilee Housing to Renovate and Expand Adams Morgan Property

A vacant, boarded, and derelict facade in Adams Morgan is set for a makeover and a fresh tenant in the new year, as local non-profit and affordable housing provider Jubilee Housing recently received approval from the BZA to renovate 2448 18th St, NW. The narrow, four-story brick building is sandwiched between the bright blue Reef and the red and white Draft Pix and will abandon its former life as a mixed use (residential/retail) building for new beginnings as a non-profit administrative headquarters.

The juxtaposition of eyesores and eye-popping color is a common theme in

Adams Morgan, but not necessarily a welcome one, as ANC1C voted unanimously to approve the developer's plans. One ANC member explained their appreciation for any change for the better to the BZA, saying of the property: "It’s been abandoned for six years, it’s gone through several different ownerships, it’s been blighted property during that entire time." Jubilee had apparently been the only entity to make a genuine effort to reach out to the community and communicate their plans for restoration and reuse. Such was news was ultimately appreciated by the local ANC and well received by the BZA.

Project architect Ronald Schneck of Square 134 Architects describes the building as being "in very poor condition," forcing a rather aggressive renovation (a level III renovation for the jargon-heads out there). This is essentially new construction, as almost 50 percent of the building will be gutted and renovated, with building codes forcing the installation of two new staircases and an elevator. These additions essentially made the traditional ground floor retail and residential space above unfeasible, as roughly 800 s.f. of usable ground floor space didn't exactly have local businesses lined up around the block for tenancy.

"You end up carving up the available space in such a way that you have bad housing and you have bad retail, neither works well," explains Schneck. As consequence, the space will become the operation headquarters of one of Jubilee Housing's affiliate organizations or another local non-profit with a "similar social mission": Jubilee Jumpstart Daycare Organization, Columbia Road Health Services, or Primary Healthcare Organization, etc.

Earlier this year Jubilee finished restoring the Ritz to use, and even more recently completed the resuscitation of the 23-unit Sorrento and the 47-unit Euclid with a well-attended ribbon cutting ceremony earlier this month. Without wading into the merits of subsidized housing, seemingly always a sticky subject on comment threads across the blogosphere, the revival of a dilapidated and crumbling facade is good news no matter how you spin it.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Affordable Housing Opens in Adams Morgan

Wednesday marks the celebratory opening of the Ritz, DC's newest affordable housing project. Developers of the 60-unit building, at 1631 Euclid Street, NW, Washington DC, will celebrate the project's completed renovation with a 2pm grand opening ceremony. The $7m renovation project rehabilitated the 82-year-old Adams Morgan apartment building, allowing Jubilee to relocate their corporate offices off-site. Hickok Cole Architects produced designs for the renovation, Ellis Denning served as general contractor. Jubilee is a non-profit, faith-based organization that provides low-income housing and support services to Adams Morgan residents. According to the developer, "more than 400 people" stood in line to file an application when the project opened last month; the building has now begun occupancy but is not fully leased. The Ritz was purchased by Jubilee at its founding in 1973, when it was one of the first two properties acquired with the aid of Enterprise Community Partners. Today, the Ritz is the largest of seven Adams Morgan apartment buildings owned and operated by the company. As part of their “Campaign for the New Jubilee,” the affordable housing operator has been conducting top-to-bottom renovations of all their properties. In addition to the ongoing work at the Ritz, their Ontario Court building (2525 Ontario Road, NW) is also currently undergoing renovation procedures; work on their Mozart (1630 Fuller Street, NW), Marietta (2418 17th Street, NW) , and Fuller Court (1650 Fuller Street, NW) buildings concluded in 2008. Renovations on Jubilee’s two remaining properties, the Euclid (1740 Euclid Street, NW) and the Sorrento (2233 18th Street, NW), are scheduled to commence later in the year. Work on the Ritz finished in summer 2009.

Washington DC commercial real estate news

DC Teams with Feds for Adams Morgan Affordable Project

Mayor Adrian Fenty was on hand last Thursday for a ceremonial ribbon cutting at the newly refurbished Ontario Court housing complex in Adams Morgan – a 27-unit, 100% affordable apartment building developed by Jubilee Housing, Inc. with designs by Bonstra Haresign Architects. The $9.4 renovation of the 86-year-old edifice also includes a new 4,000 square foot home for Jubilee’s JumpStart Early Childhood Development Center in the very same building at 2525 Ontario Road, NW.

David Bowers of Enterprise Community Investment, Inc. – one of the project’s backers, along with the US Department of the Treasury, the DC Department of Housing and Community Development and PNC Bank – began the festivities by leading a prayer in which he blessed not only the residents of the newly renovated building, but the project’s financiers as well – who, according to Bowers, are “not in the building business, but the people business.” Jim Knight, Executive Director of Jubilee Housing Inc., echoed that sentiment while exploring the various funding sources used to realize the project.

“Housing advocates and city officials have come together to create a funding source that goes by the name of the Local Rent Supplement Program,” said Knight. “It ensures affordability for the lowest income earners among us….The city government [also] came together and worked to create the Housing Production Trust Fund. We’re one of the few localities in the country that has one of these resources. It has been funded in the past and it is here at Ontario Court.”

According to the Mayor’s office, the project received $3.5 million from that fund for upgrades including “new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, new carpeting, upgraded kitchens and bathrooms, installation of new security systems, new air conditioning, and new laundry equipment.”

Far from being merely a local initiative, however, Ontario Court also received a big boost from the U.S. Treasury Department via their Community Development Financial Institutions Fund’s New Market Tax Credit Program. The program, which was created in 2000 to “provide tax incentives to induce private-sector, market-driven investment in businesses and real estate development projects located in low-income urban and rural communities,” was used to raise capital for Ontario Court - a project that Mayor Fenty says is indicative of a sea change in the DC development community.

“When the market-rate housing boom was coming through the District, people said, ‘This is the renaissance of the District of Columbia. This is the city come to life,’” said Fenty. “Market-rate housing has a place, but what we’ve seen over the past two or three years, as the market has stabilized and returned a little bit to normalcy, is an appetite and patience for building what is probably even more important to the District of Columbia – and that’s affordable housing."

In the coming months, the Department of Housing and Community Development will continue to pursue such developments in the Adams Morgan area by “putting money into” renovation projects at 1703 Euclid, 1720 Euclid, 1631 Euclid and 2233 18^th Street, NW - the last two both Jubilee properties.

The Ritz Gets Low-Income Makeover

Local affordable housing provider Jubilee Housing, Inc. has begun renovating its flagship Adams Morgan property, the Ritz, at 1631 Euclid Street, NW. In addition to revamping the economically priced units in the 82-year-old Adams Morgan apartment building, the renovation will also allow Jubilee to relocate their corporate offices off-site and reallocate the space to an array of community interests.

The nearly $7 million renovation will amount to 60 units of affordable housing for Jubilee – which breaks down as 10 efficiencies, 20 one-bedroom, 10 two-bedroom and 10 three-bedroom rental apartments. According to Kathy Guillaume, Jubilee’s Director of Development, new amenities planned for the Ritz include community-oriented additions such as a "computer center, multi-purpose classrooms, community room, [and an] after school center for teens," in addition to energy efficient infrastructural upgrades for the apartments and communal areas. Hickok Cole Architects is designing the renovation, Ellis Denning is serving as general contractor.

Jubilee will move out and into a new location on Colombia Road, allowing for the creation of a new teen center. The Ritz has been under Jubilee’s control since the company’s founding in 1973, when it was one of the first two properties acquired by company executives Terry Flood, Barbara Moore and Carolyn Banker with the aid of Enterprise Community Partners founders, Jim and Patty Rouse. Today, the Ritz is the largest of seven Adams Morgan apartment buildings owned and operated by the company. As part of their “Campaign for the New Jubilee,” the affordable housing operator has been conducting top-to-bottom renovations of all their properties. In addition to the ongoing work at the Ritz, their Ontario Court building (2525 Ontario Road, NW) is also currently undergoing renovation procedures; work on their Mozart (1630 Fuller Street, NW), Marietta (2418 17th Street, NW) , and Fuller Court (1650 Fuller Street, NW) buildings concluded in 2008. Renovations on Jubilee’s two remaining properties, the Euclid (1740 Euclid Street, NW) and the Sorrento (2233 18th Street, NW), are scheduled to commence later in the year. Work on the Ritz is on track to wrap up in July of 2009.