Avalon the Albemarle at 4501 Connecticut Avenue
An affordable housing developer and nonprofit is in the process of purchasing Avalon the Albemarle apartments at 4501 Connecticut Avenue. It’s also informing residents of their right to buy the building themselves, under the District’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, or TOPA.
At a meeting with Avalon residents on Wednesday, February 19th, representatives from True Ground Housing Partners said the nonprofit is under contract to buy the 228-unit property from current owner AvalonBay Communities, a publicly traded real estate investment trust, and laid out plans to convert the 1950s building into affordable housing for households in the 60 to 80% median family income range ($92,000 to $123,750 for a family of four).
Carmen Romero, True Ground’s CEO, introduced herself and the organization, which was founded in Arlington, Virginia since 1989. Its website says True Ground provides “safe, attractive housing to more than 5,000 people in the DC Metro region.”
True Ground program manager Mitch Crispell led most of the presentation, which stressed that no existing residents over the income threshold would be displaced after the purchase. The units would be converted only after tenants move out. Some existing residents, if their incomes are within the range, would see their rents go down. Additionally, no one’s annual rent increases would be larger than 4.5 percent, even in years DC’s rent control laws allow for a larger rent hike.
In the District, the maximum allowed rent increase for rent-stabilized apartments (built prior to 1976) will be 4.8% as of May 1st. Crispell told Avalon residents that their maximum rent hike would be 4 percent this year, and True Ground would use the 2025-2026 rent hike cap for registered seniors and people with disabilities. That is set at 2.5%.
True Ground also invited the residents to start the TOPA process, which includes forming a tenants association if a building doesn’t have one already. (The Avalon does not.) The tenants could then work toward getting at least 51% of their neighbors on board with purchasing the building themselves, or assigning the right of purchase to the interested party (in this case, True Ground), or a different organization.
According to the DC Office of the Tenant Advocate, tenants organizations who go the latter route can use their TOPA rights to negotiate better building conditions, limited rent increases and other benefits. True Ground said if assigned the right of purchase, everything it promised would be put in writing, and would be binding.
Part of the presentation focused on building management. True Ground would bring in Avenue Five, “to provide excellent maintenance and responsive management.” An additional resident services coordinator who works for True Ground would “organize community events, listen to residents’ concerns and connect residents with services.”
Crispell ended the presentation again stressing that True Ground would like to engage in the TOPA process with the tenants association, which must be formed within 45 days of the residents receiving a letter from their current landlord informing them of the sale. This handout, from the DC Office of the Tenant Advocate, summarizes the rest of the process and the timeline.
A perspective on True Ground from a former ANC 3F commissioner
David Cristeal, an ANC 3F commissioner from April 2020 through December 2022, has made a career of affordable housing support and development at the county government level. And he has years of experience working with True Ground, previously known as the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH), in Arlington County, Virginia.
Cristeal tells Forest Hills Connection that he, in his leadership role with Arlington’s affordable housing agency, was directly involved in 14 of True Ground’s rental property acquisitions and new developments. He says he found it to be an “accomplished, capable and conscientious” organization.
More than that: True Ground “was the best development partner that I worked with during my tenure in Arlington. My experience there also included other nonprofit and for-profit developers, nearly all that are also active across the DMV.”
What set it apart, in his words, “were two critical features that help ensure the long-term success of both the apartment community of families and their nearby neighboring properties:”
First, is a focus on their residents and employing the in-house capacity to help them, if needed, with a full range of tenant services. APAH/True Ground have focused on this part of their organization since their Arlington beginnings and now have 20 full-time staff members dedicated to helping ensure the success of their tenants.
Second, is their proactiveness and ability to work with the many community stakeholders as they acquire and/or develop properties. This is a complicated process often involving multiple approving bodies and the layers of public and private funding sources. APAH’s success in Arlington and its expansion as True Ground elsewhere in northern Virginia, the District of Columbia and suburban Maryland is a testament to their expertise in building effective, long-term community and funding relationships.
Discover more from Forest Hills Connection | News and Life in Our DC Neighborhood
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Elisa B says
What exciting news! We need more affordable housing in Ward 3.
Carren Kaston says
“Affordable housing for households in the 60 to 80% median family income range ($92,000 to $123,750 for a family of four).” This isn’t affordable housing for those who struggle with housing affordability.
Coviece says
Agreed! This sounds like a household with 2 incomes or one income of a degree-holder and a stay at home parent. Feels very much like an effort to push out the existing tenants (except seniors and disabled) who need and have rent subsidy.
Travis L Price III says
The cost of housing in the past 4 years has massively increased from double to triple…Also taxes are so high that the Gov. can’t assist anymore poverty. The best and fair solution is to have “private” poverty helping nonprofits raise gift money from those who have more money to contribute by choice not more taxes. Also, when construction lowers, this will help all.
Green Eyeshades says
What does Mr. Price mean when he writes “taxes are so high that the Gov. can’t assist anymore poverty?”
Which taxes is he referring to? Higher taxes generate higher government revenues.
Harry Gural says
I appreciate the coverage by the Forest Hills Connection, which again is picking up stories missed by other outlets.
First, for what it’s worth, it should be noted that non-profit developer, True Ground, formerly the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing, in the past has received substantial funding for its acquisitions from the Amazon Housing Equity Fund. (https://truegroundhousing.org/?s=amazon). It would be worthwhile to know if the proposed purchase of the Albemarle also is dependent on Amazon funding.)
Second, the community should look closely at what’s happening with the proposed sale of the Albemarle. The Bowser administration has long planned to “convert” rent-stabilized apartment buildings along Connecticut Avenue into income-restricted housing – see the Mayor’s Rock Creek West Road Map (https://housing.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/housingdc/publication/attachments/RCW%20Roadmap_12.16.21.pdf ) and her Cash 2 Covenant proposal.
The older, rent-stabilized apartment buildings that line Connecticut Avenue are home to tens of thousands of middle-income residents, particularly seniors who are “aging in place.” Rent stabilization helps make housing affordable for these residents, by limiting annual rent increases to inflation plus 2% (just inflation for seniors).
While producing more “affordable housing” seems on the face of it to.be a good thing, in fact, the administration’s plans are designed to steer large financial benefits to the companies that convert the rent-stabilized buildings into income-restricted ones. This achieves an industry objective – undermining rent-stabilization, which the industry thinks is an unfair limit on profitability – while offering new ways for developers to make money.
There are a dozen or more apartment buildings along Connecticut Avenue that are ripe for such conversions. The administration has been using taxpayer-funded housing vouchers to settle a very large number of voucher recipients, according to HUD many of whom have suffered from homelessness, into these apartment buildings. While housing those who have experienced homelessness is an important objective, the results in these buildings has been catastrophic, forcing many long-time residents to leave.
The possible sale and “conversion” of the Albemarle could increase the problems that have already been created along Connecticut Avenue, which have reshaped the neighborhood.
If the goal is to help more low-income residents of the city have adequate and affordable housing, a better policy mechanism would be the *proper* use of housing vouchers, stopping the vast overpayments (above market rents) to the rental housing industry. In 2022, the Washington Post estimated that overpayments were approximately $1,000,000 per month citywide. Since that investigation, the DC Housing Authority announced that it would *continue* to overpay for existing leases. This squanders millions of dollars that could help provide affordable housing to many more DC residents.
The potential sale to True Ground, which hopes to convert the building to “affordable housing,” is subject to a vote by the residents of the Albemarle under DC law, the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA). A second buyer, a for-profit company, has appeared, promising to keep the building under rent stabilization.
While some have asserted that a conversion to an income-restricted building would be under a “covenant” guaranteeing that status for many years, a recent investigation by ProPublica found that in cases involving funding from the Low-Income Housing Trust Fund, there is a loophole that allows property owners to escape from the covenant after only 14 years. If correct, this would mean that the property is no longer either rent-stabilized or income-restricted – in other words, rents could be much more expensive.
(See the ProPublica article, “The Housing Loophole That Lets Wealthy Investors Raise Rents on Poor Tenants,” at this link: https://www.propublica.org/article/affordable-housing-investors-loophole-rent-tenants)
These are complex issues that require extensive and nuanced debate. However, the Bowser administration’s plans for apartment building conversions have flown under the radar, with little local coverage or discussion. The pending TOPA decision of Albemarle residents offers an opportunity for such deliberation.
Travis Lee Price III, FAIA says
Agree with the comments by Harry. This isn’t the way to assist the homeless groups. It’s been a disaster of headaches and trauma all around the area these past 5 years. Also, the taxes for us are far too much as it is. The private sector of business should address this not the DC government. We pay all of DC too much as it is already.