Section 10-A506. H-1.4 HOUSING AND NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION

 

506.1Housing programs alone cannot create a livable, inclusive city. Part of attracting and retaining residents requires linking housing programs to efforts to deconcentrate poverty, improve schools, provide quality retail, and upgrade services such as child care and job training. 506.1

 

506.2Since 2000, the District has targeted capital investments to several formerly distressed areas that showed promise for economic and social recovery. In 2002, twelve areas were designated as “Strategic Neighborhood Improvement Program” (SNIP) areas, with accompanying investments in housing, schools, streetscape, parks, and other public facilities. One of the shared characteristics of these areas was the opportunity for infill development on scattered vacant and abandoned sites. Several of the SNIP areas such as Columbia Heights have already transitioned into thriving mixed income neighborhoods, while others like Ivy City are just beginning to emerge. 506.2

 

506.3Similar efforts have been made through the city’s Home Again program. Home Again acquires and disposes of vacant properties to private and non-profit developers through a land subsidy. The program requires that 30 percent of the new units created in each bundle of properties are sold to households at or below 60 percent of the Area Median Income (see text box). 506.3

 

506.4Home Again 506.4

 

The Home Again Initiative was launched in January 2002 with the goal of creating home ownership opportunities for persons of all incomes by restoring vacant and abandoned properties. The Initiative’s efforts have focused on nine neighborhoods with high concentrations of such properties: Columbia Heights, Ivy City/Trinidad, Near Northeast, Shaw/LeDroit Park, Rosedale, Deanwood, Marshall Heights, Anacostia, and Bellevue.

 

As of Summer 2006, the program had facilitated:

 

•Rehabilitation and sale of over 400 vacant properties and lots for owner occupancy;

 

•Creation of 250 new residential units through its property awards, including 110 new affordable units; and

 

•A new redevelopment effort in Ivy City that will produce 62 new (former vacant) housing units, 60 percent of which will be affordable to persons at 60% AMI or below.

 

506.5The New Communities Initiative 506.5

 

New Communities is a promising example of a city-led initiative that has the potential to reduce crime, improve neighborhood schools and health services, and create economic opportunities for public and assisted housing residents. The initiative is a partnership between DC government and the private and nonprofit sectors to produce new housing, reduce violent crime, and create a healthy environment for families in some of the city’s most distressed neighborhoods.

 

The initiative is using tax exempt bonds, low income housing tax credits, federal funds, and private investment to create mixed income housing opportunities in these areas. One-for-one replacement of older publicly assisted housing units with new publicly-assisted units is required to avoid displacement and the net loss of affordable units. Market rate and workforce housing units are included in each project to cross-subsidize the affordable units and create a mix of incomes and unit types in each project.

 

The New Communities program seeks to advance many of the city’s community development and housing goals such as eliminating concentrations of low income and substandard housing and providing public housing residents with affordable replacement housing in the new community as it is redeveloped.

 

Planning for the first new community (Sursum Corda) was initiated in 2004. Over the next five years, more than 500 units of subsidized housing in this troubled complex will be replaced by 1,500 units of mixed income housing.

 

506.6On a much larger scale, the DC Housing Authority has rebuilt entire communities through the federal HOPE VI program, replacing deteriorating public housing projects like the Frederick Douglass and Stanton Dwellings with new mixed income neighborhoods like Henson Ridge. Similar efforts have been proposed through the city’s New Communities Initiative. (see text box). 506.6

 

506.7Policy H-1.4.1: Restoration of Vacant Housing

 

Make the restoration of vacant housing units a major government priority. Where restoration receives public funding, ensure that a substantial share of the renovated units is made available to persons of low and moderate income. 506.7

 

506.8Policy H-1.4.2: Opportunities for Upward Mobility

 

Provide opportunities for residents of District-owned and District-assisted housing to achieve self-sufficiency and upward mobility. Specifically explore mechanisms for residents of District-owned and District-assisted housing to purchase their residences. At the same time, work to replace units purchased with new District-owned and District-assisted housing stock. 506.8

 

506.9Policy H-1.4.3: Focusing Housing Investments

 

Direct housing improvement funds to neighborhoods with the greatest potential for sustained improvement, based on demographics, market forces, the presence of neighborhood partners and anchor institutions, and similar factors. 506.9

 

506.10Policy H-1.4.4: Public Housing Renovation

 

Continue efforts to transform distressed public and assisted housing projects into viable mixed-income neighborhoods, providing one-for-one replacement within the District of Columbia of any public housing units that are removed. Target such efforts to locations where private sector development interest can be leveraged to assist in revitalization. 506.10

 

506.11Policy H-1.4.5: Scattered Site Acquisition

 

Encourage the acquisition of individual properties on scattered sites for use as affordable housing in order to de-concentrate poverty and promote the integration of low income households into the community at large. 506.11

 

506.12Policy H-1.4.6: Whole Neighborhood Approach

 

Ensure that the construction of housing is accompanied by concurrent programs to improve neighborhood services, schools, job training, child care, parks, health care facilities, police and fire facilities, transportation, and emergency response capacity. 506.12

 

506.13Action H-1.4.A: Renovation and Rehabilitation of Public Housing

 

Continue federal and local programs to rehabilitate and rebuild the District’s public housing units, including but not limited to the HOPE VI program, capital and modernization programs, the Community Development Block Grant program, and the District-sponsored New Communities program. 506.13

 

506.14Action H-1.4.B: Home Again Initiative

 

Continue support for the Home Again Initiative as a strategy for reducing neighborhood blight, restoring an important part of the city’s historic fabric, and providing mixed income housing in neighborhoods with relatively high concentrations of vacant or abandoned residential properties. 506.14

 

506.15Action H-1.4.C: DCHA Improvements

 

Continue the positive momentum toward improving the District’s public housing programs, including the effective training of public housing residents in home maintenance skills. In addition, residents should be involved in management and maintenance and the effective renovation, inspection, and re-occupancy of vacant units. 506.15

 

506.16Action H-1.4.D: Tax Abatement

 

Consider geographically targeted tax abatements to encourage affordable housing development in areas where housing must compete with office space for land, similar to the Downtown Tax Abatement Program. The potential costs and benefits of tax abatements must be thoroughly analyzed as such programs are considered. 506.16

 

506.17Action H-1.4.E: Additional Public Housing

 

Support efforts by the DC Housing Authority to use its authority to create 1,000 additional units of public housing, subsidized by funding from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development under the public housing Annual Contributions Contract (ACC). This action is contingent on the availability of funds for a local rent subsidy to cover the annual operating costs for the new units. 506.17

 

notation

The provisions of Title 10, Part A of the DCMR accessible through this web interface are codification of the District Elements of the Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital. As such, they do not represent the organic provisions adopted by the Council of the District of Columbia. The official version of the District Elements only appears as a hard copy volume of Title 10, Part A published pursuant to section 9a of the District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1994, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; D.C. Official Code § 1 -301.66)) . In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions accessible through this site and the provisions contained in the published version of Title 10, Part A, the provisions contained in the published version govern. A copy of the published District Elements is available www.planning.dc.gov.