Parcel 42, northeast corner of 7th & R Streets NW, north of Rhode Island Avenue

The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development has announced that a developer has come forward with a proposal to build a mixed-use building on the vacant lot identified as Parcel 42, on the northeast corner of Seventh & R Streets NW. The developer's plan includes rental residential apartments with ground floor retail units. The apartments would be available to those with incomes near 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI), or around $53k per year, which the District Government argues is "affordable housing" though most would admit that concept does not qualify as "low income" housing.

Years ago, some members of the community rallied around the developer who promised to offer the most "low income" housing as a part of their proposal. But as the economy soured, that developer was the least capable of going forward with the project. Other developers offered proposals with other levels of affordability; for instance, the proposal presented by the United House of Prayer, required no District Government subsidy, but the level of affordability was limited to those with incomes much higher than 50% of the AMI.

Below is a list of the new project specs and the proposal that failed.

new : old project specs:
floors: 5 : 8
units: 52 : 94
retail sf: 7,000 : 7,600
parking spaces: 30 : 31
District subsidy; $6.5M : $11.5M
affordability: 50% AMI : (stratified: 20%, 30%, 60% AMI)

The mixed use building just north of Parcel 42 is 5 stories high; Asbury Dwellings, low income senior residences, just south of Parcel 42 on 7th St, is 4 stories high; the building across 7th St from Parcel 42, north of the Metro station, is 10 stories high.

Ward 2 Councilmember Evans recently stated that the District's finances look bleak for the next three years and they might worsen, making it more difficult to provide subsidies in the near future. He's even suggested that the developer might go to another part of the city and build a similar project, instead of building it in Shaw, and let Parcel 42 stand vacant for years to come.

ANC 2C Commissioners who have voiced an opinion on the topic suggesting that waiting 3-10 years for the economy to improve might be the best thing for the Shaw community. ANC 2C02 Commissioner Kevin Chapple, has not publicly taken a position on this project that sits in his single member district. Some would argue that supporting this project now might improve the local investment market, spur other development, and create more opportunities for low-income housing to be included in other projects. Alternately, others have suggested that the site would be best used as a community garden until a more low-income housing development can be selected for the site. Community gardens are wonderful, but they usually take a couple of years to get established once a capable organization takes responsibility for the site. Suppling water to the site might also be a challenge, but at least the site wouldn't sit neglected by the DC Government as a blight on the community.

Mayor Fenty has asked for direction from Ward 2 Councilmember Evans; Mr Evans suggests that he will let the local community decide.