(Washington, DC) – Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Interim Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development John Falcicchio were joined by the District’s housing agencies at “New Year, New Housing,” an event to preview the tools and actions to achieve Mayor Bowser’s goal of producing 36,000 units by 2025, 12,000 of which will be affordable.
“To build the amount and types of housing our families and residents need, we must be bold and innovative,” said Mayor Bowser. “My charge to my Administration and the entire DC housing community is this: let’s think about the future we want for our city, and then, let’s build the housing we need to achieve that future. That means housing for families, housing for residents across the income spectrum, and it means new housing in every part of our city. It’s a new year, so let’s bring on the new housing.”
In 2020, the Bowser Administration will continue and enhance community engagement efforts on housing with residents and stakeholders. The Mayor’s Office of Policy is organizing a series of engagements with housing practitioners who can offer guidance and collaboration in reaching the Mayor's goal of 36,000 new units by 2025. These meetings are designed to shed light on opportunities for further engagement, fresh ideas around production and equity, and challenges that still need to be addressed. The Bowser Administration will also hold its third in a series of “Continuing Conversations on Housing,” town hall-type events to inform residents about the policies that are driving the city’s housing goals and production. The next in the series will be held February 8, 2020 at the Howard Theatre.
“Mayor Bowser led the nation by making DC the first city in the nation to set affordable housing targets by neighborhood. Now it is incumbent upon us to identify the people, the policies and the processes to achieve our goal of building 36,000 new homes by 2025,” said Interim Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development John Falcicchio. “Together we will achieve this goal by making big moves in 2020, so let’s continue to stick together to show the region and the nation how to deliver housing for our residents.”
Mayor Bowser has made historic investments in housing and, since taking office, more than 10,400 units of affordable housing have been produced or preserved, with another 4,600 under construction. The Fiscal Year 2020 budget included historic investments in the District’s funds to build and preserve affordable housing – $116 million for the Housing Production Trust Fund (up from $100 million in Fiscal Year 2019) and $11.5 million for the Housing Preservation Fund (up from $10 million in FY19). To build on this effort, Mayor Bowser signed a Mayor’s Order in May 2019 directing District agencies to identify new policies, tools, and initiatives to begin fulfilling her #36000by2025 goal.
In October, the Mayor, along with the Office of Planning, released the Housing Equity Report and the District’s draft Comprehensive Plan proposal, two tools that will help sufficiently address the District’s long-term needs around housing, equity, resilience, and public resources. The Housing Equity report establishes goals specific to each planning area of the city, making Washington, DC among the first cities in the nation to create area-specific goals for affordable housing and dedicate an entire initiative to examining the barriers and opportunities within each area.
In addition, Mayor Bowser announced a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the St. Elizabeths campus on Parcels 8, 9, and 13. Parcels 8 and 9 call for adaptive reuse projects that will accommodate activities such as education, workforce development, and business development needs for DC entrepreneurs and innovators. The District envisions a commercial office component and innovative incubator concept for creatives, such as photography, dance studios, or art exhibits. Parcel 13 calls for additional housing, Class A office and ground floor retail. All parcels are located adjacent to the Entertainment and Sports Arena.
The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development will conduct a pre-response information session and site visit at the RISE Demonstration Center on Tuesday, January 28, at 11:00 a.m. The RFP can be found online at https://dmped.dc.gov.
Mayor Bowser also announced that DMPED will release the RFP for the new DC Housing Finance Agency Headquarters at her annual March Madness event, which will take place on March 24 at the Entertainment and Sports Arena.
The Mayor was joined at today’s event by leadership and staff from across District agencies, including the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development; the Office of Planning; the Department of Housing and Community Development; DC Housing Finance Agency; and the DC Housing Authority.