Fort Totten just got a major housing upgrade. Wesley Housing and D.C. officials cut the ribbon this week on a rebuilt affordable community at 1 Hawaii Ave. NE, unveiling 70 apartments that replace a much smaller building on the same site. The project more than doubles the number of homes on the property, with the first residents moving in back in March. Wesley and city leaders are touting the redevelopment as both a preservation win for longtime tenants and a badly needed production boost in Ward 5’s tight housing market.
Funding And Financing
The roughly $61.5 million redevelopment came together through a familiar but complex financing cocktail: a mix of federal and D.C. low-income housing tax credits, solar tax credits, tax-exempt bonds, a Freddie Mac permanent loan and money from the District’s Housing Production Trust Fund, according to Bisnow. Department of Housing and Community Development Director Colleen Green praised the outcome, saying, “One Hawaii shows what’s possible when residents lead and the District brings every tool to the table,” the release quoted by Bisnow.
Public documents from the D.C. Housing Finance Agency outline an earlier capital stack that included tax-exempt bonds, federal and D.C. LIHTC equity and other subsidies, putting total development estimates in the mid-$50-to-$60-million range, per the agency filings. All 70 apartments are reserved for households earning between 30% and 80% of area median income, and the development team says about 10 households plan to return to the rebuilt building.
Tenants And TOPA
Wesley Housing says it acquired the property in March 2018 after the 1 Hawaii Ave. NE Tenants Association exercised its rights under the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, or TOPA, and selected Wesley as its developer partner. As part of that deal, Wesley agreed to temporary relocation and a contractual right-to-return for former residents, according to Wesley Housing.
The rebuilt One Hawaii includes a mix of 10 studios, 38 one-bedrooms, seven two-bedrooms and 15 three-bedrooms. The project page highlights shared community spaces and energy-focused features as part of the redesign. Wesley Property Management is set to operate the community, and the organization says its CORES-certified resident services team will offer housing-stability supports for both returning residents and new households.
Return Rights And Local Concerns
Not everything about these kinds of redevelopments is straightforward. Advocates and prior reporting have warned that paperwork around temporary relocations and enforcement of return agreements can get messy. Reporting last year documented eviction filings aimed at terminating the return rights of relocated tenants, including cases tied to the former 1 Hawaii Ave. NE property…