As I proffered in Part 1 (http://dcfeedback.com/whj/), our DC government promotes an unfair double standard in the design, implementation and benefits from city development policies. Specifically our public policy double standard is biased against low and moderate income Black Women and their families.

Particularly when it comes to who is positioned by our government to benefit from the acquisition, maintenance and accumulation of wealth (equity) through development incentives such as public land dispositions, loans through tax abatements, incentives, regulatory manipulation, enforcement even our city’s Comprehensive Plan.

Our government’s double standard and biases when it come to equity is best illustrated the saga of Park Morton public housing residents’ quest for equity under the city’s NCI development program and our government’s responses in the saga of the Adams Morton Hotel, The Line, over the last 10 years, Effectively our government used every excuse, regulatory, legal and political maneuver in its arsenal to frustrate the Park Morton Equity, while doing the inverse on behalf of Line Hotel developers and investors. In fact if strip it down, the Amendments to the Comp Plan proposed by OP before the Council will enshrine this double standard if passed as is.

Back in November when our government approved the Line Hotel tax abatement it completed the transfer $46M in public dollars, $25M in public equity to MGM Resorts International with a market cap of $14.6B, a hedge fund (Wexford) with $2.5B in assets under management and another fund (Friedman) built in part on opioid “pill mill” profits. The approval marked the end of a 10 year saga of our schizophrenic government unwinding probably the tightest written community benefits package with clawbacks in DC to my knowledge. All the while restructuring one of DC’s most unique and politically active neighborhoods, Adams Morgan, into a play pen for fund managers and billionaires.

To the east in another neighborhood, Park View/Pleasant Plains, our government was explaining to public housing residents that although the city was privatizing their public housing, they were not entitled to TOPA rights. And equity for them was not a consideration, that awarding them equity would harm the viability of their NCI development project. Which was kind of ironic, even hypocritical.

Ironic because, the residents of Park Morton are told they can’t acquire public equity because it would hurt project viability, but the developers of the Line Hotel and their investors were told that their project could not be viable in order to acquire public equity. Park Morton residents are told that their project can’t change to in order accommodate their demand of equity, while our city worked with the Line Developers to rework their project at least three times to ensure MGM and the edge funds got their equity. Two sagas which pretty much define the meaning of double standard and what our government has become.

The double standard and biased here is clear, no Trump and no Proud Boys, our DC Government after 7 years can’t find a path to equity and wealth building for the residents of Park Morton led by low and moderate income Black Women who live in our city, and can’t not find a path to enhance the wealth positions of the Line Hotel developers and investors primarily already wealthy White males through public equity some who don’t even live in our city. Under the current Comp Plan amendments, we want to bring this equity double standard to all 8 wards and neighborhoods in the city through a process call UpFluming.

I guess that’s racial equity in Black and White.

William

Our government promotes an unfair double standard in our development policies when it comes equity and the acquisition, maintenance and accumulation of wealth.  Specifically, a biased double standard rooted in a particular combination of race, class and gender.

This double standard when it comes to equity and wealth building is clearly illustrated in our governments roles and development politics in the Lower Georgia Avenue Corridor (LGAC) when we  compare analyze the political response to Park Morton residents quest for equity to quests of entities such as Park View Community Partners(PVCP), Zuckerman-Garvey (ZG) and even Howard University.

In order to better understand the LGAC equity double standard, which also permeates economic development policies across the city, one much have a general understanding of the role(s) played by our DC government. Over the last 20 years or so, economic development policy has largely been driven by and depended on the transfer or conversion of public resources and  “public equity”  into “private equity”  to supposedly achieve city economic and civic goals and objectives.   Over the years this transfer and conversion process has evolved from a more planning, civic and regulatory based  process to one today that is primarily political. A very good example of this primarily political process with have today is Adams Morgan Hotel, The Line, tax abatement. 

Typically DC government regulatory and political processes for transferring public wealth to privative wealth are discretionary and include land dispositions, tax, zoning and regulatory exceptions, cash transfers and credit instruments, some direct some indirect.   These political transfers of wealth or equity from public to private hands are often not done transparently, nor based on merit, performance or even need, but often arbitrary and capricious politics based on a double standard(s).

Unfortunately, the LGAC has evolved to become a text book example of the above counter productive double standard. 

The residents of Park Morton under the leadership of its resident council, The Council @ Park Morton, entering their 3rd round of NCI development after two failures has requested an equity position in the project moving forward.   The Council @ Park Morton and a larger portions of its households are lead by low and moderate income Black women.   Their request is allowable both under HUD Section 18 regulations and local TOPA regulations.  Their request(s) have been obstructed, undermined and deflected by local political leadership since 2018.  Since the restart of Park Morton NCI, without building a single new unit of housing the equity position of the project has increased by $42.5M, done of which will be shared by residents.

Maryland based developer Zuckerman-Garvey(ZG) entered the LGAC market in a big way around 2013/14 when the Park Morton NCI process was restarting for the second time. ZG ultimately proposed to build over 300 new units of housing plus retail over 3 mixed use developments.  In contrast to the Park Morton request, political leaders have bent over backwards to help ZG enhance their equity position in LGAC with the granting of multiple PUD zoning extensions, land transfers and etc..   My rough estimate is that without build a single unit of housing ZG’s equity position with the help of local politicians has increased by $96M.  ZG is led by White males.

Six years ago, PVCP lead by The Community Builders (TCB) out of Boston was awarded development rights for the Park Morton NCI project with an 80% equity stake.  TCB is a non-profit with a diverse board.  Since the award of development rights in 2014 TCB with the full support of local politicians were awarded two ground leases covering close to 4 acres for $99, $5M loan/grant for predevelopment costs, two contract extensions, regulatory relief, but has produced Zero (0) housing units in those 6 years and lost a major zoning case.  However, they will benefit from the $42.5M in equity accrued to date, while the residents of Park Morton are displaced during this pandemic.

So combined PVCP and ZG without building a single unit of housing have gained approximately $137M in their equity position made possible in large part by support from our political leaders.   On the other hand, Park Morton residents have been obstructed in their efforts to share in this unearned equity gain, but instead have suffered anxiety, displacement and neglect as a result of political choices by our government and elected officials.  In fact, residents quest for equity have been reject in part because doing so may hurt PVCP and ZG equity position gains.

It should be noted that the Comp Plan Bill B23-0736 which is enthusiastically supported by our LGAC political officials with serve to cement the PVCP/ZG $137M equity to Park Morton $0 disparity and double standard.   

The great thing about the LGAC, Ward 1 and citywide is that their are people will to work, organize, campaign to deconstruct and challenge the “Georgia, One Avenue, Double Standard on Equity” by supporting the Park Morton Equity Plan.   People and neighbors who are coming to understand that approving Comp Plan changes which upFLUM zoning maps without addressing our double standard on equity is a recipe for displacement, while perpetuating historic biases and inequities especially for low and moderate income Black women and their families. 

Hopefully with a new City Council and ANC we will find the courage to crush this double standard in 2021.

William

A major element of today’s DC Affordable Housing policies and implementations are based on a flawed and even corrupt model incubated years ago in Ward 1.   This model is the basis of most development deals past and present emanating out of DMPED, Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) and the current Comp Plan Bill B23-0736. 

In approximately 2001, DC adopted an affordable housing development model based on the write-down of the value of public land contributed to private development deals.  The model proffered that the value of the contributed public land would pay for the production of affordable housing; therefore, the city would not have to investment public dollars in the creation of affordable housing.  Instead the market would pay for the development of affordable housing.

The first test of this model was the awarding of two publicly owned  14th Street Columbia Heights urban renewal parcels to developer Donatelli & Kline, today Donatelli Development.  The parcels today host the Kenyon Square and Highland Park I and II developments.  Donatelli’s proposal was accepted by the city based on this write-down premised in his proposal including the fact that “NO” additional city money or resources would be required to achieve affordable housing and other public/community benefit goals with these projects.  In fact Donatelli & Klein went further saying they still pay for the public land. 

At the time of the Donatelli & Klein award other developers and professionals warned that Donatelli’s proposal was not viable, but the award was made.   And the city passed legislation making Donatelli’s proffer city law, public land value write-down would pay for 20% affordable housing with no additional public investment.    The only exception from Donatelli’s proposal was the use of federal low income housing tax credits, LIHTCs.

By 2004, Donatelli was already hedging on their proposal and by 2009 would request a bailout of a property tax abatement valued at $8.5M.   They would also stall for time, ask for additional zoning relief, cheat the affordable housing requirements (per DC Auditor), reduce ADU unit size, steal public land and homelessness resources.   The Donatelli model collapsed in failure. Yet today, this model remains the hart and soul of DC housing policy including the New Communities Initiative (NCI), and OP’s Comp Plan amendments currently before the City Council.

Behind the mask of growth and density which is the current front for DC Affordable Housing policy is a reality that underlying policy never worked from the beginning.  Starting in Ward 1 Columbia Heights in 2001 thru today in Ward 1’s Park Morton New Communities Initiative project today on Georgia Avenue.   In 2021 its time to strip away DC’s affordable housing mask and reveal a displacement model of greed and discrimination under cover of smart growth.

William

http://dcfeedback.com/whj/