Ray Rose is a D.C. native. Ray Rose is a veteran. Ray Rose is a former cameraman for Channel 7. And Ray Rose is formerly homeless. He’s seen a thing or two. He understands a lot. What Ray Rose doesn’t understand is why the District is disposing of 67 acres of waterfront, Metro accessible property and scrounging for bits of land in all 8 wards shelter only a portion of our city’s homeless families. Why not rebuild on the DC General campus?
That’s the question he posed to Mayor Muriel Bowser at the February 17 Ward 3 Democrats community meeting. The answer?
“It’s too big.” Really.
But the problem is more complicated than size. Let’s also talk about costs, fairness, and solutions.
In regards to size, the converted DC General Hospital building is just one of many buildings on 67 acres of land owned by the District of Columbia. The campus also includes DC Jail, an STD Clinic, a detox center, an emergency women’s shelter and more. According the District’s 2002 Master Plan for usage of this specific property, also known as Reservation 13 and Hill East, it is “one of our City’s most important public land resources.”
According to a March 2, 2015 land disposition agreement, the city is proposing to dispose of two parcels from the 67 to developers (major donors to the Bowser campaign) to develop it for entertainment and apartments. The purchase price for the District’s right, title, and interest in the property is $10.
Simultaneously, the city expects to pay for the construction of facilities on generally less than an acre of land each in every ward.
Nearly 70 acres of waterfront, metro accessible land for less than 10 acres, some of which are pretty remote. That doesn’t sound fair.
Let’s talk more about costs.
The city currently spends $17million per year to operate DC General family shelter, which has about 1000 people sleeping there per night split among 250 units. This is District-owned land: no rent, no mortgage. Each unit, specified as emergency shelter, costs $53,895 per year to operate, according to the city’s 5-year plan to end homelessness, Homeward DC. That’s $150 per day.
For $150 per day, anyone—especially a single mother working multiple part-time jobs—should expect standards such as a clean, safe, private bathroom for herself and her children. If we aren’t providing basic levels of sanitation expected of any DC landlord/tenant agreement where is the funding going now? The conditions of our family shelter are notorious.
And the city is expecting to maintain this daily emergency shelter cost. In Homeward DC’s projected future system, $53,595 per year would be spent to operate each emergency unit. That translates to $1 per day less. How much better can we honestly expect those services to be?
Rent in most of these locations is astronomical. DC Government is agreeing to lease each property for period ranging from 15 to 30 years, with single short term options for renewal. Depending on the individual lease agreement, the new facilities will cost over $3400 per unit per month. Double the price of a superior nearby apartment. And, the expensive new buildings don’t provide families with private bathrooms. On top of that, many of the new sites are isolated far from transportation, schools, and recreation.
Size matters. Cost matters. Fairness matters.
Tell us the truth. Is it fair to trade 67 acres for less than 10? Are we currently spending $53,000 per unit wisely? Will be just be spreading out a broken problem?
There are alternatives to the proposed Homeward DC plan. To quote Martin Luther King, Jr. “I have the audacity to believe that people everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, quality, and freedom for their spirits.” I also believe that we can do a better job with the 67 acres the city already owns.
Four possible alternatives to start the conversation:
- Take a look at the City’s Master Plan from 2002 – describing details of using the land for housing, training, employment, recreation, etc.
- Provide Modular housing or mobile homes for each unit using the current 67 acres. A brand new mobile home with private bath, kitchen, bedroom, living room, and dining room can be purchased for ~$50,000.
- Request and review proposals from the numerous qualified DC residents, architects, and urban planners. Many individuals expressed interest at the Ward 3 community meeting I attended on March 5.
- Request proposals from the homeless veterans, FEMA, and the US Army Corps of Engineers. The USA is extremely proficient in deploying housing fast around the globe. Perhaps some of our homeless veterans, moms and kids can embark on a new mission to collaboratively solve the housing problem better, faster, and more cost effectively. Certainly, all the needed expertise and person-power is available and accessible in our metropolitan area.
The good news is that none of this is actually a “deal” yet. It’s still pending approval from the Zoning Board and the Council for a hearing on March 17th. Let’s mobilize now to demand more time and transparency to get a fair deal.
See you March 17th, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 10:30am.
