A 2023 rendering of the DC Archives on the UDC campus, as viewed from across Van Ness Street, looking northwest.
Mayor Bowser’s DC Archives and UDC housing pivot: After years of planning, and with millions of dollars already spent on the DC Archives project on the UDC campus, Mayor Muriel Bowser now wants to build student housing at the site instead.
Bowser, in her May 27th budget reveal, billed the changes as cost-saving measures. But archives advocates say the proposed alternatives are not based on any cost-benefit analysis and are unfeasible. You can read more about it in Washingtonian and the DC Line newsletter.
Instead of a single archives building where the shell of Building 41 still stands, Bowser’s FY 2026 budget proposes two facilities for DC’s historical records: a public-facing location at the Charles Sumner School, which already houses the DC public education museum and archives, and a to-be-constructed warehouse at a location to be determined.
The budget proposal also includes $25 million for the continued demolition of UDC’s Building 41 and to begin the planning and design process for student housing.
The mayor’s new push for UDC’s first on-campus housing is also a pivot from previous Bowser administration spending priorities. During a 2023 public Q&A about the reasons the DC Archives won out over on-campus housing, UDC officials explained that housing had been considered for the site, but the money just wasn’t available. “We think that [the archives] is a good alternative to having an empty building on campus” with no money for a renovation, UDC General Council Avis Russell said at the time.
The Rock Creek Horse Center, now under new management: The stables were under a cloud for several months amid reports of mismanagement and financial difficulties at the National Park Service’s previous vendor, and as of February, it appeared the facility was weeks away from shutting down. Then, in May, Rock Creek NPS announced:
Camps, lessons and more will continue at the Rock Creek Park Horse Center. The NPS approved the transfer of the Rock Creek Park Horse Center concessions contract to Metropolitan Equestrian Team, Inc. effective May 21, 2025.
Learn more: https://t.co/jRGHc8uyeV pic.twitter.com/s3NzgsOCnb
— Rock Creek Park (@RockCreekNPS) May 9, 2025
The Washington Post has more on the new vendor and the reaction of some of the Horse Center’s longtime riders.
A local landlord in the news: WC Smith, which manages The Frontenac and Clarence House, and is vying for the right to purchase Avalon the Albemarle, is paying $1 million to settle a rental price-fixing lawsuit filed by DC’s attorney general. It’s the first of 15 defendants to agree to a settlement. Even Reuters covered the preliminary agreement.
A “bizarrely accurate” DC mystery novel: Take this example from the new book, How to Have a Killer Time in D.C.: “The map on the giant screen in the center of the dashboard showed the route we’d be taking, following Tilden across Connecticut Avenue, where it merged into Reno Road and wound its way up to Nebraska Avenue.” Washingtonian did some sleuthing and uncovered the reason.
Social media mentions
Sunny afternoon at the Native Meadow Habitat on Howard University West Campus 🌼 🐝 pic.twitter.com/uZFSSEakoc
— C on the scene (@Conthescene) June 4, 2025
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Green Eyeshades says
Just so readers of Forest Hills Connection know the latest about which landlord will buy Avalon the Albemarle apartment building, the tenants of the Albemarle voted to assign their TOPA rights to WC Smith.
The owner of the Albemarle, AvalonBay, originally agreed to sell the building to True Ground, but tenants gave True Ground just under nine percent (9%) of their votes. WC Smith won 91% of the votes by tenants and will acquire tenants TOPA rights to buy the building.
Green Eyeshades says
On May 27, a District group hosted a town hall about TOPA. This is how 51st dot news described the town hall:
“DC Jobs with Justice is hosting a town hall on TOPA, or the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act. It’s a decades-old law in D.C. that can prevent displacement and protect renters by giving tenants the opportunity to purchase (duh) their building if it goes up for sale. Community members who have engaged in the TOPA in the process (as well as those who have lost that opportunity) will gather to discuss the law and its role in preserving affordable housing. At-Large Councilmember Robert White is co-sponsoring the event, which comes as Mayor Bowser pushes her RENTAL Act — a bill that would weaken TOPA protections.”
https://51st.news/topa-civics-roundup-may-22/
Tenants at Avalon the Albemarle were informed prior to their vote to choose a buyer that if Bowser’s bill to weaken TOPA protections is passed by DC Council (it’s hidden in the budget), and if the affordable housing developer purchased the building, tenants would lose their TOPA rights if that affordable housing owner tried to sell the building later.
Green Eyeshades says
Martin Austermuhle, a well-known reporter who formally worked for WAMU, now works for 51st dot news. He posted a long story today about housing issues in the District which included these ‘graphs about TOPA, including the “TOPA success story” where tenants in our neighborhood just used TOPA to assign their purchase rights to a preferred buyer:
“Along with rent control, TOPA, the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, is often seen as one of D.C.’s most significant protections for renters in what can often be a volatile and expensive housing market. (It’s also a relatively novel type of law for U.S. cities.)
“Originally passed into law some 35 years ago during a moment when D.C. saw a wave of condo conversions and gentrification, TOPA gives tenants the right to purchase their building (or find someone to do it on their behalf) if the owner wants to sell it. The logic at the time was simple: The best way to prevent renters from being displaced when a new landlord comes along is to allow them to become owners of their own buildings….
“And there have been plenty of TOPA success stories (I reported on one a decade ago). According to a 2023 study by the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development, from 2006 to 2020, some 16,224 affordable housing units were developed or preserved through TOPA out of 37,471 units in 937 sales of multifamily properties. Just this week, tenants in a Van Ness building used their TOPA power to steer the sale of their building to their preferred buyer. (Remember, tenants can assign their purchase rights to someone else.)” [snip]
https://51st.news/dc-housing-bills-topa-explainer/
Green Eyeshades says
This is the headline and sub-hed on a news story in City Paper today, June 19:
“D.C.’s TOPA Tall Tale: Investors Aren’t Fleeing D.C. Because of the Tenants Rights Law (Despite What You Heard)”
“A key tenant protection is on the chopping block as developer groups claim it’s driving away big investors. But a closer look at the data, and a response from Amazon, suggest the truth is more complicated than political rhetoric.”
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/766360/topa-amazon-affordable-housing-robert-white/