New Jubilee Housing Acquisition Will Maintain 25 Deeply Affordable Apartments in D.C.’s High-Rent Neighborhood of Columbia Heights

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Washington, DC—October 31, 2018— Jubilee Housing, Inc. closed on the purchase of 1460 Euclid Street NW, preserving deeply affordable housing in Ward 1’s high-rent Columbia Heights neighborhood. The purchase was made possible after the 1460 Unidos Tenant Association, Inc. assigned its right to purchase under the District’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act to Jubilee Housing, which will allow current building residents to pay the same rent they pay now or less after a full renovation of the property.

With this acquisition, Jubilee expands the availability of justice housing TM in one of the city’s most desirable communities.

Justice housing combines deeply affordable homes with onsite and nearby supportive programs, in thriving neighborhoods. Post-renovation rents at the Euclid Street property will be approximately one-third of market rents for the neighborhood, where the average two-bedroom apartment rents for $2,400. The building is near supportive family services offered by Jubilee Housing and other nonprofits as well as within walking distance of community health centers, grocery stores, and public transportation.

“We are excited to be able modernize the conditions of 1460 Euclid and extend affordable rents there another for generation, enabling current tenants to stay in the homes and neighborhood they know and love,” said Jim Knight, executive director of Jubilee Housing.

“So many city residents are being priced out of neighborhoods they’ve lived in for decades and left out of the city’s growing prosperity. As a nonprofit developer, Jubilee Housing is working to create inclusive, equitable communities with abundant opportunity for all,” he said.

This purchase is the second investment for the Justice Housing Partners, LP, which Jubilee Housing established earlier this year. Justice Housing Partners, LP’s institutional investors include The Diane and Norman Bernstein Foundation, Share Fund, and United Bank. In addition, 11 individual investors and a substantial commitment from the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation were critical in making this acquisition.

Jubilee Housing wishes to express its thanks to the partners who helped make this purchase possible, especially United Bank, which is the first position lender on the project as well as an investor in Justice Housing Partners, LP.

“United Bank is committed to ensuring the vibrancy of communities throughout our footprint and helping residents achieve financial stability,” said Joseph LeMense, United’s managing director of Community Development and Nonprofit Banking. “This marks the eighth Jubilee property that United has financed in Adams Morgan/Columbia Heights, and we are proud that our partnership continues to help build a stronger foundation for local individuals and families.”

Jubilee will move current residents to temporary housing in the Columbia Heights area, at no charge, while the building undergoes rehabilitation.

The four-story property, which was built in 1926, sits adjacent to Meridian Hill Park. Construction will begin in 2019 and will include a new facade, elevator, and larger, family-sized units.

CONTACT:
Candace Tyler
202-559-2342
ctyler@jubileehousing.org

Jubilee Housing builds diverse, compassionate communities that create opportunities for everyone to thrive.

Jubilee Housing Awarded Pepco Grant

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On September 26th at the Washington DC Economic Partnership’s (WDCEP) first-annual WeDC Fest, Dave Velazquez, president and CEO of  Pepco announced that the energy company awarded Jubilee Housing a $65,000 grant to fund an emergency battery system at the Maycroft apartment building in Columbia Heights. The battery will provide up to three days of power to Maycroft residents in the event of an extended power outage.

The grant is part of Pepco’s broad-based effort to transform the future energy experience for customers and communities, while ensuring access to vital, sustainable energy resources for customers in Washington DC.

New Partners Community Solar assisted in the design of the battery system. Construction on the Maycroft and battery system installation will be complete by the end of the year. Thanks to the vision and leadership of New Partners Community Solar, DC will have its first solar powered, batter supported on-site resiliency center.

“Creating a sustainably powered resilience room for the Maycroft affordable housing community further demonstrates our commitment to innovative technologies and increasing resilience for our most vulnerable residents and neighbors,” said Dave Velazquez, president and CEO, Pepco Holdings. “This first-of-its-kind grant in the District paves the way for the important development of new energy technologies to increase resilience and build equity that will be integral to meeting our customers’ future energy needs.”

As part of this pilot project, the Maycroft will also host a 70.2 kilowatt (kw) solar panel array on its roof and a resilience room capable of powering the Family Resource and Teen Renaissance Center for three days. Providing refrigeration for food, medication, lights, power for outlets, and communication devices. Pepco will manage the interface between the battery storage and solar installation in a pilot environment, allowing the company to learn more about how these technologies can be used in future applications.

“Jubilee Housing is excited that a community room in the Maycroft, Jubilee Housing’s newest deeply affordable justice housingSM  property located at 1474 Columbia Rd NW, will be equipped to ensure access to electricity for residents in the event of a power shutdown,” said Jim Knight, president and executive director, Jubilee Housing. “Resiliency is especially important for vulnerable communities that already experience great uncertainty in the course of their lives.”

Adams Morgan project will convert vacant office to affordable housing, arts center. Here’s a look at the plans.

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This article first appeared in the Washington Business Journal on September 20, 2018.

By Michael Neibauer Associate Editor, Washington Business Journal

D.C. nonprofit Jubilee Housing Inc. has filed its plans to convert an Adams Morgan office building into affordable apartments — with a ground-floor space set aside for a neighborhood arts center.

Jubilee acquired 1724 Kalorama Road NW, known as the Transcentury Building, last month for $8.25 million, financing the deal in part with money raised through its Justice Housing Partners Fund. The property is two blocks from 18th Street NW.

Under the plan filed with the Board of Zoning Adjustment, the 35,000-square-foot vacant commercial building will get a one-story addition and penthouse — to be used as office space for Jubilee — as it is converted to residential. The building will include roughly 25 units — nine three-bedroom, eight two-bedroom and nine one-bedroom — and no parking.

The ground floor will provide new space for Sitar, which currently operates nearby at full capacity. Sitar is a community arts education and youth development center. Per the site plan, the Sitar space would include a digital art, art and music classrooms, teen lounge, conference space, performance space and a bike room.

PGN Architects is behind the design.

Jubilee’s second acquisition through the Justice Housing Fund, a 30-unit apartment building at 1460 Euclid St. NW in Columbia Heights, is expected to close next month.

Read more from the original article here.

Investing in Justice

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As Jubilee Housing has fought to address DC’s growing inequity through creating more justice housing™, the organization’s efforts have been hampered by the increasing pace and number of properties being purchased for conversion to market-rate rentals or condos. To overcome this trend, Jubilee recently launched the Justice Housing Partners Fund , which will provide quick-strike acquisition capital for bridge financing, enabling Jubilee to better compete against market forces.

Already, the Share Fund, a donor-advised fund of the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, has led the way with a $1 million match investment, which has inspired institutional investors. United Bank, for example, has committed $250,000, and, to date, Jubilee Housing has raised more than $2 million in commitments.

Creating the Fund is the first tactic for delivering Goal 2 in “Justice Housing in Action,” Jubilee’s five-year plan for justice housing (see the lead story in this newsletter). Goal 2 calls for Jubilee to increase the number of justice housing properties in Jubilee’s portfolio by 30 percent.

Jubilee will use the $5 million it raises through investments in the Fund to purchase three or four properties that can become future justice housing communities. Justice housing is deeply affordable, coupled with onsite or nearby opportunities that can help residents live successful lives, and located in resource-rich neighborhoods like Jubilee’s core communities of Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, and Mount Pleasant. Jubilee already has the first two new properties under contract.

These areas’ proximity to good schools, public transportation, grocery stores, and banks have led to rapid gentrification and real estate value escalation. They are now among the most competitive markets in the city, with developers making all-cash offers for properties and foregoing contingencies as well as due diligence.

Consequently, D.C. residents with few assets are being left out of the city’s growing prosperity, as they are forced from their homes and into concentrated areas that lack the resources and opportunities we all need to thrive. Yet research demonstrates that those who remain in or relocate to a resource-rich community experience increasingly better employment and wage outcomes as well as decreases in the likelihood of needing government programs, such as TANF.

Under the Justice Housing Partners Fund model, a two- to three-year investment leverages permanent financing that yields a social return for multiple generations of Washingtonians with very low incomes. Jubilee’s 45 years of experience providing affordable homes and services in its core neighborhoods and track record of zero defaults or losses for investors makes the Fund is a winning proposition all around.

In making more justice housing a reality, Jubilee is bridging the prosperity gap in D.C. For more information on how you or someone you know can invest in the future of our city and its residents, contact Rebecca Ely at rely@jubileehousing.org. This Fund will create returns from which we all benefit.

A Win for Deep Affordability

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Sustained outreach to D.C. City Council members by Jubilee Housing, the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing & Economic Development (CNHED) and other non-profit developers paid off for D.C. residents when the Council voted recently to increase 2019 funding for the Local Rent Support Program (LRSP).

Jubilee and its partner organizations had been concerned that Mayor Bowser’s Fiscal Year 2019 budget only provided LRSP dollars for specifically designated uses, leaving a gap for projects seeking to couple those dollars with D.C. Housing Production Trust Fund (Trust Fund) investments.

Jubilee and its partners sought an increase in FY 2019 LRSP funding to be able to create more homes affordable to city residents with extremely low incomes. Jubilee hoped to tap future LRSP dollars to purchase future justice housing properties, as part of its five-year strategic plan for justice housing.

Two-thirds of the units in Jubilee Housing’s buildings are affordable to households making extremely low incomes. Jubilee matches LRSP dollars with investments from the Trust Fund to achieve that deep level of affordability.

“Deep affordability is just not feasible without an operating subsidy,” said Jim Knight, Jubilee Housing’s executive director. “In higher rent buildings, more expensive units can sometimes cross-subsidize a few units affordable to residents making 30 percent of area median income or lower. In buildings like ours, where two-thirds of the units are deeply affordable, that’s not possible,” he said.

Following the persuasive lead of CNHED, members of the Jubilee Housing community wrote letters, made calls, and held meetings with council members to advocate for the additional LRSP funding.

The Council approved $3.5 million for non-designated LRSP purposes. “Producers of affordable housing, like Jubilee, can now put together the funding needed to build homes that are available to families before they reach shelters or the streets,” Knight said.

Jubilee Initiates an Ambitious Five-Year Plan for Justice Housing

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This month, Jubilee Housing initiates work on “Justice Housing in Action ,” the organization’s bold, new five-year plan to create additional justice housing in Washington, D.C.

Jubilee Housing is taking on this challenge because, in the capital of a nation built on opportunity and justice for all, the wealth gap between affluent residents and those with the fewest assets is greater than in all but two of the country’s 50 largest cities. In fact, one in four D.C. residents lives with a low income, and, therefore, is more likely to have an unstable home, reside in an unsafe neighborhood, and lack access to essential resources.

Families with low and very low incomes—those who work in home health care, maintenance, food preparation, and child care, for example—are being forced out of neighborhoods they’ve called home for decades. They can no longer afford to live near programs that provide crucial support and in areas where resources are readily accessible. Yet, research shows that where people live, down to the zip code, directly affects future success.

“To address the growing divide in our city, Jubilee Housing has broadened its mission to foster equity and bring about justice through housing—justice housing,” said Jim Knight, Jubilee Housing’s executive director. Knight defined justice housing as deeply affordable, with onsite or nearby supportive programs, and located in resource-rich neighborhoods. “In justice housing communities, all are welcome and valued for their contributions, regardless of their income level or background,” he said.

“Justice Housing in Action” outlines four strategic goals that will guide Jubilee in creating strong and equitable justice housing communities.

Goal 1: Create a resident-centric experience that supports individuals and families in Jubilee communities in achieving success through justice housing.
Goal 2: Increase the number of justice housing properties in Jubilee’s portfolio by 30 percent.
Goal 3: Develop the human, financial, and social capital to deliver new justice housing.
Goal 4: Enhance Jubilee’s culture and operations to enable the organization to sustain its justice housing.

The plan calls for Jubilee Housing to take specific steps related to each of those goals, over the next five years. For example, the plan directs Jubilee to increase its portfolio of deeply affordable homes by 100 units. “Justice Housing in Action” also authorizes Jubilee to diversify funding sources, by partnering with other nonprofits and engaging new donors. Further, it charges Jubilee with establishing channels for regular resident participation in the design and execution of Jubilee’s work.

Jubilee Housing’s ambitious strategy will set the District on the path to becoming a city in which all residents benefit from D.C.’s recent progress and live lives they deem successful.

Jubilee invites everyone who lives, work, or enjoys the many opportunities available in D.C. to assist the Jubilee community in achieving these five-year goals—to ensure a city where everyone can thrive.

Celebrating the preservation of 64 affordable units in Columbia Heights

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The DC Department of Housing and Community Development Director Polly Donaldson said that The Maycroft “will be a shining example” of what she calls an inclusive property that will provide stable housing and services to a changing neighborhood.

Click through to read the full write-up at DCHAccess.

Renovated Maycroft to Provide New, Expanded Services to Vulnerable District Families

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Washington, D.C.—July 11, 2017—Jubilee Manna Community Development Enterprise (CDE) today announced it is putting $7 million in New Markets Tax Credit funds to work creating space where District families with fewer financial resources can access opportunities to help them thrive.

The space will be located in the Maycroft Apartments, which Jubilee begins renovating this month. Jubilee closed on the building, in D.C.’s Columbia Heights neighborhood, in June.

“The Maycroft, with its new program space and 64 highly affordable homes, becomes the city’s latest justice housing development,” said Jubilee President Jim Knight. “It will enable families to live in a thriving neighborhood close to resources that support successful lives. Moreover, it will contribute to a more equitable and vibrant city for all District residents,” he said.

Read Full Press Release Here.

$1.4 Million Renovation Preserves 27 Affordable Units at Jubilee Housing Ontario Court

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Washington, DC – July 20, 2015 – On Friday, July 24 at 10 a.m., Jubilee Housing, along with residents, city officials, financiers, and community members, will gather to celebrate the Ontario Court building located at 2525 Ontario Road NW in Adams Morgan, Washington, DC. The renovation will keep the apartment building in the heart of Ward 1 affordable for families making as little as $19,000 a year. The innovative financing used by Jubilee will keep those deep levels of affordability for the next 30 years. The event will include remarks expected from Councilmember Brianne Nadeau and members of the Bowser administration.

The 29,700 square foot Ontario Court building is home to 27 residential units and a 4,000 square foot program space used by Jubilee JumpStart, an accredited early childhood education nonprofit that supports infants, toddlers, and preschool students in Jubilee Housing and the broader Adams Morgan community.

The $1.4 million renovation includes improvements such as ramp access into the building, five handicapped-accessible units, new hardwood floors, lighting, kitchen upgrades, and solar panels on the roof that will defray utilities costs (Ontario Court is one of the first affordable housing developments in DC to have them).

“We are so pleased by this renovation,” said Jim Knight, president of Jubilee Housing. “Not only does it guarantee a place in the neighborhood for another generation of families, but it creates new opportunities for those who are handicapped and makes Ontario Court a part of the greening of the city. We are grateful to our partners for their creativity and expertise in making this project work.”

The redevelopment was made possible through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program, a federal subsidy for affordable housing rental projects. Key financing partners included United Bank, R4 Capital, DC Housing Finance Agency, DC Department of Housing and Community Development, DC Housing Authority, and the Corporation for Supportive Housing. Bonstra Haresign was the architect for the renovations and Monarc Construction was the general contractor.

Ontario Court’s rehab maintains it as part of Jubilee Housing’s stock of affordable housing in Adams Morgan. By utilizing innovative funding leveraging private and low-income tax credit financing, Jubilee Housing is not only providing needed affordable housing in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood, but moving the District toward a more handicapped accessible and environmentally sustainable future.