Housing Corner: Where to look for Affordability in DC

TNG readers David and Don submitted this post.

Many times people ask residents of the Norwood Apartments, “where can I find an affordable place to live in DC?” It's a question you hear a lot these days, and longtime DC residents understand the difficulty in finding a place in a good neighborhood that won't break the bank. So why does it seem harder and harder to find decent rent controlled apartment buildings these days? Because they're disappearing in a battle of profit versus affordability.

Here at the Norwood, after tenants stood united in saying “NO to condo,” we are now negotiating to buy our building. Buying your building is a little discussed and often hidden option that your landlords might not want you to consider. When a landlord is a motivated seller, tenants have the opportunity to make an offer for the building. The result is tenants will be able to negotiate a deal that will work for them, and they will then have the power to choose to convert the building to a cooperative or affordable condominium once they are owners. The city encourages tenant purchases, and even provides millions of dollars in funding annually through the Housing Production Trust Fund.

At one Northwest apartment building, the Somerset House, tenants are facing a similar opportunity to exercise their rights and say “No to condo,” and yes to buying their building. Somerset is a beautiful building that caters to gays, lesbians and families with a great location, high ceilings, and large square footage studios and 1 or 2 bedroom apartments. New tenants should get involved with the tenants association, and empower others to protect affordability, and experience the power of standing with their neighbors to enrich their community.

The Norwood Apartments, near Logan Circle, is known for being a good source of rent controlled studios; however in 2007 we came close being one of the “disappeared” buildings. In the past few years, hundreds of once affordable buildings have been converted to higher priced condominiums. While there is nothing intrinsically wrong with condos, they are often less accessible to young professionals and others who are credit “challenged.” Add to that the glut of condos that remain on the market (left over from the real estate bubble) and you're left with few good reasons for choosing condo conversion.

The effect of rent control for landlords of apartments built before 1976 is that the value of their buildings is kept lower, at the same time they're still able to make consistent profits through annual cost of living rent increases. This means that for buildings like the 84-unit Norwood Apartments, which was snapped up in 1999 for $2 million, the temptation for the landlord to squeeze out more money becomes irresistible. The reality is that landlords are motivated to buy discounted buildings, neglect maintenance, and then make tens of millions in profit through condo conversions. The catch is that landlords must convince (or “buy out”) existing tenants who are typically all too willing to give up their rights for a dime.

The landlord at the Norwood brought in a well known developer to make the “condo pitch” to residents in January 2007. But what they were offering just didn't seem to make up for the loss of affordable rental housing that would result: Could a $5,000 buyout really make a longterm difference when rents in other buildings in the neighborhood ran two or three times higher? Would I really want to commit over $200,000 for a small studio with few amenities? The condo developers said this was a good deal, but for our community of immigrants, young professionals, and gay men, it just didn't add up. So the tenants of the Norwood exercised our rights and said “No thanks” to condo.

The Norwood was saved, and tenants here are now looking forward to being owners in the near future. Join the thousands of others in Washington who have successfully purchased their buildings and converted to cooperatives. Cooperatives provide affordable homeownership opportunities, with many of the tax benefits of buying a house. To answer the question of where to find a decent place to live: check out buildings like the Somerset House, and learn about the power of exercising your rights as a tenant.

Resources:
Office of the Tenant Advocate
Housing Counseling Services
Latino Economic Development Corporation
The Georgetown Law Harrison Institute
The Norwood Tenants Association
DC Tenants Advocacy Network