Breakfast links: Downtown DC Red Line stations to close for repairs in December
Gallery Place-Chinatown by Around the Horn used with permission.
WMATA to close core Red Line Metro stations for maintenance
The Metro Center, Farragut North, and Gallery Place Metro stations will close in mid-December for two weeks for maintenance, and Judiciary Square will close for two days. WMATA says it chose the dates because ridership is lower, but acknowledged that it will affect access to holiday events. (Sarah Y. Kim / DCist)
Amazon partners with National Housing Trust on $40 million affordable homeownership initiative
The National Housing Trust and Amazon Housing Equity Fund will award grants to organizations to develop affordable homeownership strategies, followed by loans to develop those affordable units. Grounded Solutions Network will provide technical assistance to grant recipients. The program aims to help address the racial wealth gap. (Disclosure: Senthil Sankaran, Principal of the Amazon Housing Equity Fund, also serves on the GGWash board of directors; This article may be behind a paywall). (Teo Armus / Post)
Greater Washington home prices continue to rise
August saw a year-over-year increase of 5% in median home prices in the Washington region, the second time since 2021 that home prices rose in consecutive months in the region. While areas like Alexandria City and Fairfax County in Virginia saw significant increases, DC proper and Falls Church experienced declines. (UrbanTurf)
Baltimore OIG alleges Housing Authority has millions in unpaid water bills
The Housing Authority of Baltimore is disputing an Office of Inspector General (OIG) report that claims it has millions in unpaid water bills. In June, the alleged amount owed was $7.9 million. The Housing Authority says the figure is inaccurate and that it has been awaiting explanation of the amount, while the sole Public Works employee overseeing large accounts indicated to OIG that the figure is accurate. (This article is behind a paywall). (Adam Willis / Baltimore Banner)
Northern Virginia demand pushing data centers further into the state
A CBRE report found increased migration of new data center projects to Fauquier, Culpeper, Stafford, and Spotsylvania counties due to a lack of sufficiently large development sites issues closer to Washington. (Jeff Clabaugh / WTOP)
Developers ask Montgomery County leaders for development subsidies, regulation reform to support office space market
In a recent presentation to the Montgomery County Council Economic Development Committee, developers from across Greater Washington asked the county for subsidies and other help with repurposing empty or underused office buildings, citing a number of county regulations and lack of funding from county sources that don’t exist for them in other area jurisdictions. (This article is behind a paywall). (Dan Brendel / Business Journal)
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