Community groups purchase apartments for affordable housing

As I write from time to time, in a strong real estate market, the best way to preserve affordable housing is to somehow remove chunks of it from "the market." One way to do this is through co-operatives or urban community land trusts. Another is portfolio investment on the part of nonprofit community development and housing organizations. Jubilee Housing is one such organization in DC that does this.

But so do others, as this article from the Washington Business Journal about the Mayfair Housing project makes clear. From the article:

Community Preservation and Development Corp. and Marshall Heights Community Development Organization have purchased Mayfair Mansions in a bid to preserve affordable housing in the District. Tenants of the 569-unit apartment complex in Ward 7 picked the two nonprofit organizations to buy and redo the complex last year.

The D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development provided a $24 million loan to fund the purchase.

"Preserving affordable housing, particularly at a site as rich in history as Mayfair Mansions, is a venture in which DHCD is proud to be involved," says DHCD Director Jalal Greene. "This transaction represents the largest number of units preserved and the largest amount of funding provided for a single project in the department's history."

The proposed plans for the complex include maintaining 409 units in the affordable rental pool and converting 160 units to affordable condominiums. Renovations will start early next year.

This is a good thing, and another instance where DC Government agencies are doing good work and the right thing.

And this will have a lot more impact than "inclusionary zoning"--which is still important--because it will impact far more units. It is expected that inclusionary zoning requirements will generate less than 70 units of new housing/year.

Index Keywords: housing; gentrification