Woodland Terrace, in DC by GKJ.

Decades of community mismanagement, inconsistent funding, and different directorships have left DC’s 41-property public housing portfolio in varying states of dilapidation. The latest DC Housing Authority (DCHA) administration has put forth a far-reaching plan that sets priorities for repairs, maintenance, and repositioning of various communities in hopes of salvaging some units and, for other units, offering their residents a better option.

In 2018, a year after being appointed director of DCHA, Tyrone Garrett informed the public that much of the city’s public housing was borderline uninhabitable. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was committed to not dedicating any funding toward a maintenance backlog affecting public housing systems nationwide, and city funding alone could not adequately address those needs.

The oldest remaining communities had been around for at least 60 years, and hazards and unsuitable conditions had long been identified throughout DCHA’s properties, including lead paint, flooding, rodent and pest infestations, and toxic mold. HUD had called upon housing authorities to reposition their units to move them from under the traditional public housing umbrella, and most, DC included, saw the financial leverage of public-private partnerships as the only way out of a rut.

DCHA’s plan to overhaul its portfolio

In the 20-Year Transformation Plan DCHA released last September, DC identified that rut as totaling at least $2.2 billion to enable the agency to update properties and restore livable conditions for its residents — 150 times the typical annual allotment from HUD and the city. The report also noted that it would require a minimum of $785-850 million cash-on-hand to improve 6,803 of the housing units within 17 years, using an average annual allotment of $45-50 million. These efforts to improve the portfolio would begin with an “Early Action Strategy” focused on 14 properties, comprised of 2,610 units, deemed in need of “extremely urgent” intervention.

Four of the 14 properties (Judiciary House, Kelly Miller Townhomes, Langston Additions/Langston Terrace, and LeDroit Apartments) would undergo extensive rehabilitation through the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) process to extend the properties’ life by 15-20 years and change their classification from Section 9 (traditional public housing) to Section 8 (project-based voucher housing).

The remaining 10 (Benning Terrace, Fort Dupont Additions, Fort Dupont Dwellings, Garfield Senior/Garfield Terrace, Greenleaf Gardens/Greenleaf Additions, Greenleaf Senior, Kelly Miller Walk-Ups, Richardson Dwellings, Stoddert Terrace, Woodland Terrace) were in such disrepair as to require replacement through HUD’s Section 18 process, combined with RAD in some cases.

For properties being redeveloped, DCHA would retain control of the land through use of ground leases and would be listed as a co-developer of any competitively awarded projects. Each public housing unit razed would be replaced one-for-one to give residents the option to return, and the new developments could maximize the potential number of housing units on the site. This would have the effect of making the land more valuable to borrow against, deconcentrating poverty by delivering units at different income levels (including market rate), and making such a project profitable to draw potential co-developers.

The agency would also retain the option to leverage its land value through the use of land swaps, trading parcels in one location for those in another under different ownership. Although build-first, where new units are constructed for public housing residents to move into before they have to leave their homes, was identified as a goal, the redevelopments would likely require long-term relocation for over 5,000 residents through the use of federal protection vouchers.

Funding asks yield few answers so far

The price tag for these prioritized properties would be $343 million in the immediate term, and the agency stated its intention to exhaust all financing options (including use of grants, bonds, “philanthropic gifts”, HUD’s HOME fund, and tax credits) and minimize debt as much as possible. Presumably, the use of voucher subsidies in the resulting developments would create a dedicated cash flow, and the savings from these rehabilitations and redevelopments would help finance maintenance improvements throughout the rest of the portfolio. In the meantime, DCHA requested a dedicated annual budget allotment from the city in order to help the agency bankroll its maintenance and rehabilitation ambitions.

However, members of the DC Council have questioned how DCHA spends its funds in the first place and whether additional funding would be misused. The Office of the Chief Financial Officer, which reviews and signs off on all city budgets, had told the Housing Committee that DCHA has cash reserves it could use as a stop-gap until dedicated funding was approved. Eight out of 13 councilmembers co-sponsored a bill to give the mayor’s office oversight of DCHA.

Nevertheless, the Council gave an additional $24.5 million to DCHA for the 2020 fiscal year to be used for the RAD work at Judiciary House, Kelly Miller Townhomes, Langston Additions, and LeDroit Apartments. Despite the coronavirus pandemic depressing revenue in the city this year, the Council also budgeted $50 million in capital funds for DCHA maintenance and repairs during the 2021 fiscal year (although DCHA will need to let the Council review its spending plan).

Public housing residents and advocates intensified calls over the summer for the Housing Authority to concentrate on making immediate, non-maintenance order repairs rather than continuing to pursue redevelopments, particularly as stay-at-home orders left many residents with no reprieve from deteriorating units and unsanitary buildings. (DCHA also received federal pandemic assistance funds through the CARES Act; the agency is supposed to share a breakdown of that spending with the agency’s Board of Commissioners this month.)

image from the DCHA's  FY2021 draft spending plan

The draft FY2021 spending plan DCHA has released seems to be adopting that emphasis on extensive repairs — to an extent. Of the city’s capital funds, the agency plans to use $25.3 million for the preservation of existing units, $10.165 million of which will go toward upgrades of systems and replacement of other components at several communities. This work will include a new roof at Langston Terrace, exterior repairs at Benning Terrace, and rehabilitation of 27 units at Highland Additions and 30 units at Judiciary House. The remaining $15.2 million will go toward lead abatement at eight properties (including Benning Terrace and Langston Terrace) and mold and asbestos abatement at Greenleaf Gardens.

Some of the leftover $24.7 million budgeted will also go toward repairs and rehabilitation, albeit to support the longer-term redevelopment goals. The first $14.15 million will be spent to make 317 vacant units at 14 properties move-in ready. Thirty-one of those units will be at Greenleaf Gardens.

Bringing those units back “on-line” will enable the agency to consolidate residents within certain areas of their communities, making it easier to eventually raze and replace newly-vacant buildings. DCHA estimates that the first redevelopment phase will be possible in the 2022 fiscal year at five properties: Benning Terrace, Greenleaf Gardens, Kelly Miller/LeDroit, Richardson Dwellings, and Stoddert Terrace/Fort Dupont.

In the coming fiscal year, the agency essentially plans to spend $39,513,000 of city funds (and another $8.24 million in HUD funds) on repair, rehabilitation, and major maintenance. The rest of the funds will be used to pay for master planning, feasibility studies, and other pre-development costs at nine properties (including Greenleaf Gardens).

Greenleaf Gardens by the author.

Questions continue to surround DCHA’s spending

Prior to the release of the spending plan, DCHA’s Board of Commissioners was already unclear on the agency’s costs and revenues, prompting debate and a delayed vote prior to passage of the 2021 fiscal year budget. Boardmembers echoed the sentiments of DC Council, the CFO’s office, residents, and observers, exemplifying how frustrations surrounding the opacity of DCHA’s spending are coming to a head as the agency attempts to enact perhaps its most ambitious plans to date.

Considering the fate of some work DCHA has already tried to execute based on its 2019 Transformation Plan, this lack of confidence appears justified: repairs begun at Judiciary House over the past year are now expected to cost twice as much as what was estimated in a 2018 audit. It is no wonder that, at the CFO’s request, DCHA is commissioning a new Physical Needs Assessment to gather new (and hopefully, more comprehensive) data on what work needs to be done to address both the symptoms and the underlying issues at each property and in each unit across the portfolio.

With rising calls for transparency from multiple directions, the next fiscal year may be instructive in whether DC Housing Authority can make good on its commitments to restore livable conditions for its residents.

Nena Perry-Brown is a Takoma Park native and current Takoma DC resident with intergenerational ties to the District. She writes for online real estate development publication UrbanTurf and is a prospective graduate student in real estate. When she's not reading and writing, she's probably at a concert or crocheting somewhere.