{"id":17989,"date":"2025-05-06T23:16:30","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T23:16:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dc4reality.org\/updates\/?p=17989"},"modified":"2025-07-15T16:02:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T16:02:43","slug":"tour-of-montgomery-countys-premier-social-housing-project-draws-significant-interest-and-praise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.dc4reality.org\/updates\/17989","title":{"rendered":"Tour of Montgomery County\u2019s Premier Social Housing Project Draws Significant Interest and Praise"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/b>
Contact Debby Hanrahan, (202) 462-2054
debby@savedcpublicland.org<\/a><\/a><\/font><\/p>\n
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Tour of Montgomery County\u2019s Premier Social Housing Project
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Draws Significant Interest and Praise<\/font><\/b><\/div>\n
More than twenty DC residents travel on the redline and tour the Laureate to learn from this ambitious municipally-owned Social Housing model<\/b><\/i><\/font><\/div>\n

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Shady Grove Metro, May 2, 2025 <\/b>\u2014\u00a0 On the first Friday in May, over twenty DC affordable housing advocates, current and former Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners, retired members of the DC zoning board, and City Council staff made their way to the end of Metro\u2019s Red Line for a guided tour of The Laureate<\/a><\/b> \u2014 Montgomery County\u2019s flagship social housing pilot.<\/div>\n
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\u201cHow fortunate is DC that a viable solution to our city\u2019s affordable housing crisis lies just at the end of the red line?\u201d <\/font><\/i>pondered Rondell \u201cMagic\u201d Jordan, DC public property advocate and participant in the failing DC Inclusionary Zoning program<\/a>.<\/b><\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Once a stalled private development, the Laureate was revived through innovative public intervention<\/b>. Rather than let the project collapse, Montgomery County stepped in with bond financing, securing a 90% stake in both the land and future profits. The original development team has a 10% ownership stake, was compensated for their entitlement work, and now manages the property\u2019s operations on behalf of the County.<\/div>\n
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This bold move marked the beginning of the County\u2019s social housing initiative \u2014 and it\u2019s working. The success of the Laureate has already spurred planning for several additional social housing projects nearby.<\/b><\/div>\n

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Currently, 30% of the Laureate\u2019s units are permanently income-restricted. Due to its municipal ownership structure, more units may be converted to below-market rents over time as the County captures additional equity from ongoing revenues. In addition, affordable housing voucher holders are especially welcomed and encouraged to apply for housing at the Laureate.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThere\u2019s real help to be found in this municipal housing model,\u201d <\/i>said Damiana Dendy of DC Jobs With Justice. <\/b>\u201cSocial housing is self-sustaining and predictable in part because it's insulated from the whims of shifting federal policy and federal funding every election cycle.\u201d<\/i><\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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In exploring the Laureate, tour participants witnessed a dense new building complete with modern amenities including a pool, fitness center, co-working space, children\u2019s play area, and thoughtfully designed units \u2014 all underscoring the idea that affordability doesn\u2019t mean sacrificing quality.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s not what you would normally see in traditional public housing \u2013 it\u2019s diverse, dignified, and welcoming. Plus, there is a real local stake in ensuring it stays that way,\u201d <\/i>said James Salt, a member of Democratic Socialists of America and DC public property advocate.<\/b><\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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\u201cIt was exciting to see a housing finance model that doesn\u2019t have to surrender the candy store to the private sector,\u201d <\/i>said Laura Richards, longtime Ward 7 resident, Committee of 100 member, and formerly a member of the zoning board.<\/b> \u201cToo often\u2014McMillan, Takoma Metro, West End\u2014public land has been handed over for token amounts of affordable housing. The result is luxury development with little community return. We need a new approach\u2014one that keeps land in public hands and serves the public good.\u201d<\/i><\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Representatives from Montgomery County\u2019s housing agency and Laureate staff guided the tour group through model units and explained the project\u2019s financing structure, answering questions about how the project was tailored to the county\u2019s affordability needs. Notably, the Laureate includes three-bedroom units \u2014 a requirement in the deal to accommodate families.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThis model flips the old script,\u201d<\/i> said Kerry Kemp, Ward 2 resident living nearby 1617 U Street, NW<\/b>. \u201cInstead of giving away land, air rights, and tax breaks to developers promising to include some short-term affordability, maybe, this project is showing how municipal control can guarantee long-term affordability and community stability and in doing so also capture real equity to produce even more!\u201d<\/i><\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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As housing costs continue to rise across the region, the Laureate is being increasingly seen as a proof of concept for bold local leadership seeking long-term affordability through creative and efficient municipal financing and ownership.<\/b><\/div>\n
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\u201cIf DC can prioritize time and money for stadiums, it can find the time and money for social housing,\u201d <\/i>said Will Merrifield, Director for The Center for Social Housing and Public Investment.<\/b> \u201cOtherwise, all this talk about equitable development absolutely rings hollow.\u201d<\/i><\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact Debby Hanrahan, (202) 462-2054debby@savedcpublicland.org Tour of Montgomery County\u2019s Premier Social Housing Project Draws Significant Interest and Praise More than twenty DC residents travel on the redline and tour the Laureate to learn from this ambitious municipally-owned Social Housing model Shady Grove Metro, May 2, 2025 \u2014\u00a0 On the first Friday in May, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[59,58,60,61],"class_list":["post-17989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-updates","tag-dc","tag-dc4rd","tag-development","tag-displacement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dc4reality.org\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dc4reality.org\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dc4reality.org\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dc4reality.org\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dc4reality.org\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.dc4reality.org\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dc4reality.org\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dc4reality.org\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dc4reality.org\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dc4reality.org\/updates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}