Columbia Heights Affordable Housing Designed for Deaf

There is a tree-lined section of Euclid Street NW in Columbia Heights where a mural of an ocean scene faces an empty, grassy lot.  That lot, at 1421 Euclid Street, NW (see map at left) near the corner of 14th Street NW and a BP gas station - is the site of a future housing development designed for the deaf.

The 28-unit, $11.5 million apartment building will feature an audio-video entry system and balconies with every unit.  The building will be the second D.C. apartment building designed especially to accommodate members of the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community (Gallaudet beat them, by a bit).  The rental units will also meet the city's affordable housing requirements.

Justice Park Designed Especially For the Deaf

Buwa Binitie of Dantes Partners, the project's real estate developer, released new renderings of the project to DCMud this week.  "This is going to look and feel like any other high-quality market-rate housing," Binitie said.  According to project architect Zachary Schooley of Grimm + Parker Architects, the apartment design, in addition to a two-way, audio-video entry system - will feature open floor plans to facilitate visual communication and signing.

The building's design considers future prospective deaf and hard-of-hearing residents' greater "reliance on the visual and tactile senses," Schooley told DCMud.  "Spaces where the tenants can openly assemble together, open stairways, large amounts of glazing and the use of color all create a more stimulating (visual) environment." The design includes eight studio units, 16 one-bedroom units, four two-bedroom units, for a total of 28 units - 9 fewer than the original plan's call for 37 units.

Schooley said architects are working to amplify well-lit spaces and minimize the number of

Park view from future Justice Park apartments on Euclid St. NW

darkened, or sharp, corners.  He said the design team had also been experimenting with textural elements, such as wall coverings, flooring materials that will enhance residents' tactile experience of the space.

Binitie said Dantes has also brought on a new development partner on the Justice Park project.  Mi Casa, Inc., an affordable housing non-profit, has replaced former development partners Perdomo Group and Capital Construction Enterprises, turning the development triad into a duo.   The switch-up happened in April, Binitie told DCMud, adding that Dantes has "always been in the lead development role in the project."

Justice Park, rendering courtesy Dantes Partners

Dantes Partners won the contract to design, build, and develop the city-owned property in July, 2010, under the administration of former mayor Adrian Fenty. The city stipulated that the building accommodate renters who meet eligibility requirements for affordable housing.  Dantes Partners is the firm behind several other
recent D.C. developments including VIDA affordable senior housing in Brightwood and the long-running but embattled redevelopment of the West End library and fire station.   

Binitie said Dantes has worked with a variety of community stakeholders during the design stage of the Justice Park project.  According to Binitie, input has come from the neighboring condo communities of The Villaggio and Fairmont, among other locals.

Justice Park, rendering courtesy Dantes Partner

Another person involved with the project since its inception is Glen Sutcliffe, an agent with W.C. & A.N. Miller, who caters to D.C.'s deaf and hard-of-hearing community.  The child of deaf parents, Sutcliffe said he immediately welcomed the opportunity, and rallied members of his network to support the project.

He said the ubiquitous open floor plans featuring joined kitchen-living-dining areas have particular value to the deaf and hard-of-hearing.  "When you are designing a living space for a deaf or hard-of-hearing individual, you have to think: everything is visual," according to Sutcliffe. He said the design would feature a strobe light fire alarm with a flash "piercing" enough to wake anyone up from a deep sleep, which would be a benefit even to the hearing. "Things that are designed and developed for a deaf person could have universal use all the time." 

Although the D.C. metro area has a higher concentration of deaf individuals than almost any other locale in the world, Sutcliffe said, housing options for the deaf are extraordinarily underrepresented. "People might ask why we are doing this," Sutcliffe said. "Because a deaf person goes to buy a condo or a co-op or rent an apartment in the District and they have to do battle with the board, builder, or landlord to get accommodations."

Sutcliffe said even the simplest and cheapest feature is one that more builders could integrate into their designs:  the audio-video entry system. "It is my sincere hope that this building may serve as a model for other developers to design their building similarly as far as accessibility,"  Sutcliffe told DCMud. "What is necessity for the deaf community could be an amenity for the hearing population - if you look at it that way, it makes perfect sense."

But as stipulated by fair housing law, the apartments must be made available for rental to anyone eligible for affordable housing on a first-come, first-serve basis.  However, Binitie said, marketing will be "aggressively targeting deaf professionals." Renters must earn between 30 and 60 percent of the area median income (AMI), or, no more than $60,000 a year. Binitie says he expects ground-breaking will take place in early 2013, and the units will open to reservation until six months after construction.

"It will be first-come first-serve according to fair housing, but you have to understand that these are going to accessible units and we are going to try to accommodate as many (deaf) as possible," said Sutcliffe.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

President Carter Digs Ivy City

President Jimmy Carter is in town today, but far from his old residence, as he starts his latest project in the District's Ivy City neighborhood. With few developers choosing Ivy City for their next big apartment project, the District of Columbia took matters into its own hands in 2008 and awarded 4 non-profit developers the right to redevelop, with District help, a smattering of vacant properties in northeast DC. Mi Casa, Inc., Manna, Inc., MissionFirst, are all taking part, but none as visibly as DC Habitat for Humanity with its former president in the roster.

While Mi Casa began their project earlier this year, Habitat is renovating 8 duplexes along Providence Street, beginning today, with the hopes of building several dozen more over the next few years to serve families at less than 30% of the AMI. Habitat has sold 7 of the 12 homes - 6 new and 6 renovated - and future owners will begin working alongside the professional contractors to complete the requirement of "300 sweat equity hours" for each owner. Less ambitious homebuyers can enlist "friends and family" for 150 of those hours, so those with friends moving to Ivy City might want to avoid phone calls from those friends in the near future.

The District is subsidizing the various projects through DHCD’s Ivy City Special Demonstration Project, the District is subsidizing the acquisition price for each property, in a bid to help stabilize a neighborhood isolated from development money and new construction.

The octogenarian president is in town only for the day, moving on to Annapolis tomorrow to throw his own sweat equity into his next project.

Washington, DC Real Estate and Development News

New Apartments to Surface on Georgia Avenue

The Heights at Georgia Avenue is closer to beginning construction this summer, a little over a year after the development team received zoning approval to replace surface parking lots and older commercial buildings with a new mixed-use development. Project partners Neighborhood Development Company (NDC) and non-profit Mi Casa, Inc. have filed for construction permits to build the six-story, 69-unit apartment building. The new building, at the corner of Georgia Ave. and Lamont Street, will sit only a few blocks from the planned development at Park Morton. Estimates have the building delivering in early 2012, a bit behind its original plans for opening in early 2011.

The development team is working with Grimm + Parker Architects on the design. The project will have a green roof, with solar panels that power some of the common area lighting. Adrian Washington, a Principal at NDC, said the design team wanted to make a statement about the "important corner" and that the rooftop trellis element "creates a strong corner" for the block, while the rest of the design strikes a balance between a contemporary building and something that "fits with the neighborhood." The apartment building will deliver over 10,000 s.f. of ground floor retail and 69 rental units, half of which will be affordable housing available at 60% to 80% AMI. Within walking distance to the Georgia Avenue/Petworth metro station, the building will offer residents 29 below-grade parking spaces.

Since receiving zoning approval in March of 2009, the development team has been working on finalizing plans to apply for permits, negotiating relocation agreements with existing businesses and securing financing. In January, the District Council approved a $447,000 tax abatement for the project and the team has an application in with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for additional financing options. "We're on track for everything...the financing is what is slowing us down" explained Washington. The HUD application process is "taking a lot longer than we thought it would take," he added, but the federal housing agency is "the only game in town," so wait they must.

Washington said his team has spoken with two or three potential tenants, but no one wants to make a commitment this far in advance, "nothing much is going to happen until you've got a building that is coming up." The developer described the attitude he and his partners at MiCasa have for the project as "bullish." That said, Washington admits "developing infill sites in the city especially in neighborhoods in transition is hard" especially in this "very difficult economic environment."

The developers purchased the property in June of 2008 for $2.75 million under the entity Georgia and Lamont Limited Partnership. Hamel Builders is the general contractor.

Washington DC real estate and development news

Ivy City's Jimmy Fund

News out of DC's (once?) blighted Ivy City neighborhood is sounding positive these days. It was a little over a year ago that the District announced it would team up with non-profit developers, Mi Casa, Inc., Manna, Inc., DC Habitat for Humanity and MissionFirst to rehab 37 vacant properties within a six-blocks radius in Northeast DC.

With nonprofit home builder Mi Casa already at work on their first units, DC Habitat for Humanity President Kent Adcock confirms that the Ivy City overhaul is on track to move into the second phase of development: 8 duplexes along Providence Street, NE. Adcock is not definitive about the completion time-line for the project, saying his organization will start with three duplexes but anticipates staying in Ivy city for three years, ultimately placing “30 to 35 families in these homes.”

Look for a star-studded ground breaking featuring 200 volunteers, an appearance by grinning former President Jimmy Carter and other yet-to-be -announced celebrities on October 4^th of this year.

In the meantime, northeast residents can stay up-to-date on project developments by attending the DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) public hearing on May 6^th at the Housing Resource Center on the first floor of 1800 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE.

In addition to getting a sneak peak at what Habitat has planned for 1817 Providence Street, NE, DHCD Senior Public Information Officer Angelita Colón-Francia says that first-time homeowners can attend the meeting to learn about purchasing options.

As Adcock explains, the majority of “the families we’re serving are below 30% AMI - for a family of four, that’s $30-31,000 max.” The sale of the first homes will guarantee that “no one should have to pay more than 25% of their income at 0% interest” to own a home. By acting as their own bank, Habitat can sell their homes at cost to area families.

It also helps that, according to DHCD’s Ivy City Special Demonstration Project web site, the District is subsidizing the acquisition price for each property. "The request for proposals committed $3 million in gap financing to the developers through DHCD. There is limited profit gain for the developers involved; therefore, the District’s commitment to provide gap financing is essential for the developers to complete the project.”

According to Adcock, Habitat is in the midst of “negotiating on an additional 15 lots with the District and 5 rehabs” on top of their current 8 home projects. He says we could see as many as 30 Habitat buildings and “full gut rehab” jobs coming to Ivy City before Habitat’s ready to call their portion of the Ivy City Special Demonstration Project a wrap. These next phases will sell at up to 80% AMI to bring a mixed-income vibe to the neighborhood.

In typical Habitat fashion, future residents will be invited to help build their own homes. Habitat has been working with Trinity Baptist Church and local ANC Commissioners to reach these potential homeowners.

“I think this project is just a demonstration about how collaboration and partnership really works,” says Adcock proudly. “In and of ourselves, we’d have trouble getting into a part of the District like Ivy City, but because the District jumped into help, we’ll really be able to help rehab and turn a part of the city around.”

Washington, DC Real Estate and Development News

DC Commits to (Modest) Ivy City Redevelopment

The District government today announced that it is aiming to "transform" one of the city's most beleaguered neighborhoods by overseeing the redevelopment of 37 vacant properties within a six-blocks radius in Northeast's Ivy City enclave. Best known, if at all, for its ramshackle homes, illegal dumping sites and high crime rate, Ivy City will now host new construction and renovation projects awarded to four non-profit developers: Mi Casa, Inc., Manna, Inc., DC Habitat for Humanity and MissionFirst. It’s a move calculated to increase homeownership in a neighborhood weighed down by a glut of vacancies and a foreclosure rate twice that of the rest of Washington, DC.

"Just 12% of Ivy City’s residents own their homes," said Mayor Adrian Fenty, who referred to Ivy City's abandoned properties as "places to deal drugs and dump trash." Fenty noted "That’s one of the lowest homeownership rates in the city, but when these projects are finished, we can double that – which would be a fantastic statement about this city’s commitment to homeownership and neighborhood stabilization.”

Despite the uplifting mood of the press conference, expectations were not set high for the neighborhood that is isolated by Mt. Olivet Cemetery, New York Avenue, and the railyard, yet nowhere near a Metro station, and where many single family homes still list under $200,000 - without much interest.

Mi Casa will be moving ahead first with renovations of three buildings at 1302 and 1304 Gallaudet Street, NE and 1917 Capitol Avenue, NE. During Phase I, the developer plans to revamp 6 condos in the first property, with the intent of offering them to “seniors and extended families.” Four will available to those making less than 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI), while all have been reserved for area residents making less than 50% of the AMI. The second property, 1917 Capitol, will feature 2 affordable two-bedroom condos for those at less than 50% of the AMI. Mi Casa will be giving preference current eligible residents who have pre-qualified for a mortgage and “are committed to living in the neighborhood long-term.”

The remainder is expected to follow suit shortly after the completion of the first phase, with Manna planning 20 units, 15 for MissionFirst, and 8 for Habitat for Humatity. Together, that amounts to 58 new units for Ivy City – only 6 of which will be priced at market-rate. The projects will be combine renovations and new, from-scratch developments on vacant lots.

The Ivy City project is being partly funded by combining the $1 million value of District-owned parcels with $3 million from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The total cost is projected to be roughly $15 million and the neighborhood is still scheduled to begin receiving upwards of $3 million in infrastructural improvements beginning in May of next year.

The last time the District took a stake in Ivy City was when the DC City Council voted to relocate several Navy Yard strip clubs to the dilapidated neighborhood in order to make way for Nationals Park. William Shelton, chair of the ANC 5B was quick to credit the citizens of Ivy City with leading the charge to get District officials to take a second look at the state of their neighborhood.

"The tenants there, led by the Ivy City Citizens Association, have been at the forefront of this…It’s a very positive experience to see them determine their own destiny in terms of what the community ought to become,” said Shelton. “And, for our part, we’re enthusiastic to see that part of the city have an opportunity to have some those abandoned houses… renovated and restored." And for the fine folks of Ivy City, the modest announcement may not be a new stadium, but its a start.