Columbia Heights Village Apartments

Columbia Heights
Village Apartments

In the aftermath of the riots following the assassination of MLK Jr., the members of All Souls Unitarian Church formed All Souls Housing in 1971. The Church is in Washington, D. C., two blocks from the area then known as the Fourteenth Street Corridor. In 1968, violent racial riots devastated the Corridor. The Church organized All Souls Housing as a means of improving the Church’s neighborhood by rehabilitating the Fourteenth Street Corridor.

All Souls Housing decided that it should work with representatives of the Fourteenth Street community and selected CHANGE as an appropriate vehicle for community participation. CHANGE was a nonprofit corporation formed in 1969 to further economic development in the Columbia Heights Neighborhood. All Souls Housing and CHANGE worked together from 1971 until 1975 under a memorandum of understanding to develop housing in the area. In June 1975, the two organizations and a private builder/developer jointly received a commitment from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide financial and other aid for the development of a 406-unit housing project in the Fourteenth Street Corridor.

All Souls Housing and CHANGE then organized and incorporated Change All Souls Housing Corporation (CASHC) in 1975. At that time, the CHV neighborhood was not going through the gentrification process it is undergoing today, and it is doubtful that the founders of CASHC could have predicted the extent of the gentrification process and the resulting increase in value of the 406 unit CHV affordable housing community.

Columbia Heights
Village Apartments

Back in 1968, upon the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., CASHC collaborated with Metro Development Corporation and ZPZ Joint Venture to form 14th Street Associates to develop Columbia Heights Village (CHV), a 406-unit affordable housing complex on seven (7) acres of prime real estate in the Columbia Heights neighborhood controlled by DC’s Redevelopment Land Agency.

At that time, the CHV neighborhood was not going through the gentrification process it is undergoing today, and doubtful the founders of CASHC, also known as the grandfathers and grandmothers of CHV, could have predicted the extent of the gentrification process and the resulting increase in value of the 406 unit CHV affordable housing community

CHV’s residential tower is located at 14th and Harvard, one block from the Columbia Heights Metro Station. The campus includes 406 units on seven acres of prime D.C. real estate, along with gardens and townhouses that are not shown in the photo.

Partnership in Action

CASHC represented the “community interest” stakeholder and was responsible for developing management policies within the federal regulations for Section 236 properties. The other two partners were the general managers responsible for financing and development. Subsequent to construction of the complex, the 14th Street Associates sold its financial interest to Lend Lease Corporation. CASHC continued its community oversight function and management of the property by the Edgewood Management Corporation.

When the original financing arrangements for Columbia Heights Village matured in 2001, CASHC collaborated with Clark Realty Capital and Boston Financial (a Lend Lease successor) to use Low Income Housing Tax Credits to finance the property. In this arrangement, CASHC formed a new wholly owned for-profit entity Change All Souls Development, Inc. (CASDI). The new partnership between Clark (89%) and CASDI (11%) became the General Managing Partner. Clark was responsible for management of the property and CASDI had major responsibility as the Community General Partner for resident services.

Empowering CHV Residents

As part of a refinancing of the property in 2012 to get better interest rates, $5 million was set aside for improvements the residents wanted in the property, including a new first-floor community space. Residents now have more than 5,000 square feet of modern space for community and social events, including computer workstations and a community kitchen.

Written into the partnership agreement with Clark Realty were provisions to allow CASDI and the CHV Tenants Association to buy the Clark interest when tax credit financing matured in 2017. The CHV Tenants Association could buy 39% of Clark’s 89% interest for $100, and CASDI had the right to buy out the rest of Clark’s interests at market rate.

In addition, CASHC had a right of first refusal in case any other buyers for the property came along.
The grandfathers and grandmothers of CHV could have predicted the extent of the gentrification process and the resulting increase in value of the 406 unit CHV affordable housing community.

As the tax credit maturity date approached, CASHC conducted a search process for a suitable partner to replace Clark. In 2016, with the help of the CHV Tenants Association, CASHC selected the non-profit NHP Foundation to become the new partner. By the end of 2017, the Clark buyout was executed, and a restructured partnership was put in place with the NHP Foundation as the managing partner with 50% interest, the CHV Tenants Association with 25% interest and significant approval rights in the property, and CASHC entities retaining the remaining 25% interest.

A New Partnership

With the new partnership in place, the affordability provisions for this property are assured into the near future. We are currently pursuing refinancing to support significant rehabilitation of the property and explore the possible development of additional affordable housing.

Today, the CHV neighborhood remains a large focus and flagship project for CASHC.

This is the brand-new CHV social space.