Loan to Help Preserve Affordability and Rehabilitate Apartment Complex
(WASHINGTON, DC) – (RealEstateRama) — The DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) closed a loan agreement totaling more than $12.9 million that will help preserve 106 affordable housing units in Ward 7. The funding was made available through the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF).
“Preserving safe and affordable homes for District residents in all eight wards is a critical goal of the Housing Production Trust Fund,” said DHCD Director Polly Donaldson. “We are thrilled to see our affordable housing investment pay off in this important corridor of Ward 7.”
DHCD provided $12.9 million in HPTF financing to Eastern Avenue Redevelopment Partnership, a partnership between Eastern Avenue GP LLC and Winn Development Company LP, for the acquisition and rehabilitation of Hilltop Apartments, a 106-unit apartment complex along the 900 block of Eastern Avenue NE in the Burrville neighborhood of Ward 7. The project also received $16.2 million in tax exempt bond financing from the DC Housing Finance Agency (DCHFA).
Seventy-two units will be available for households at or below $66,180 (60 percent of the Area Median Income [AMI]) and remain affordable for no less than 40 years; the remaining units will be available for households at or below $88,240 (80 percent of AMI).
“WinnCompanies is thrilled to partner with DHCD on the acquisition and rehabilitation of Hilltop Apartments to convert it into a mixed-income community. Investing in Ward 7 has been a focus of our company and this property was a perfect opportunity for us to showcase our development and property management expertise,” said Brett Meringoff, a senior vice president at WinnDevelopment, a subsidiary of WinnCompanies. “This asset had severe capital needs and the residents deserved a much better living environment. DHCD’s financial support has paved the way for WinnCompanies to turn around the operations and ensure the residents have a safe, high quality place to call home for many decades to come.”
Since January 2015, the Bowser Administration has produced and preserved over 4,000 units of affordable housing units in the District with more to come. More than 5,300 affordable housing units—capable of housing more than 13,250 District residents—are in the development pipeline.
The District’s multi-pronged approach to housing production and preservation, homeownership, and development of vacant properties is winning national recognition. On September 11, the District was selected for the Urban Land Institute’s Larson Housing Policy Leadership Award. This annual award, provided by ULI’s Terwilliger Center for Housing, recognizes innovative ways the public sector is addressing the nation’s affordable housing crisis.
