The District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency (DCHFA) issued $25.9 million in tax exempt bonds, underwrote $21.4 million in federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) equity and $4 million in District LIHTC equity for the construction of H.R. Crawford Gardens located at 737 50th Street NE in Ward 7.
The new 76-unit development will be home for seniors, grand-families (grandparents raising minor children) and tenants who previously experienced homelessness. “The need for senior housing in the District is great and continues to grow. DCHFA’s investment in H.R. Crawford Gardens allows us to address this issue as well as the unique needs of grand-families,” stated Christopher E. Donald, Executive Director/CEO, DCHFA. “Living in this community will help to ease the financial burden of grandparents by providing affordable housing as well as creating a supportive environment of peers that are also caring for children.” H.R. Crawford Gardens will be the District’s second grand-family housing community. Plaza West was the first affordable grand-family development in D.C. It opened in 2018 and is in Ward 6. DCHFA provided $44.1 million in tax exempt bond financing for the project.
Manna Inc., Mutreja Developer, MED Developers and CRP Affordable Housing and Community Development LLC are the developers of H.R. Crawford Gardens, a $52 million development. The DC Department of Housing and Community Development is providing a $15.7 million loan from the Housing Production Trust Fund for this project. Income restrictions for residents at H.R. Crawford Gardens will be 30 percent and 50 percent of area median income (AMI) or less. H.R. Crawford Gardens will consist of 53 one- bedroom and 23 three-bedroom residential units. Twelve units will be fully accessible, meeting the full Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards and Type A requirements. Fifteen units will be designated Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) units that operate with Local Rent Supplement Program subsidies from the DC Housing Authority.
All the one-bedroom units at H.R. Crawford Gardens will be reserved exclusively for seniors. Fifteen three-bedroom units will be reserved exclusively for families in need of permanent supportive housing at 30 percent of AMI. In addition, one of the three-bedroom units will be reserved for a senior resident in need of permanent supportive housing. The remaining seven, three-bedroom units at H.R. Crawford Gardens will house grand-family residents. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 report on America’s Families and Living Arrangements, 1.5 million grand-families, (families with children that have grandparents in the home) with 7.5 million children are living in households with grandparents. Similarly, the census bureau estimates that 13,801 grandchildren under 18-years of age live with a grandparent. H.R. Crawford Gardens grand-family program will be managed by the United Planning Organization (UPO).
H.R. Crawford Gardens will consist of one six-story mid-rise building designed and constructed to meet Enterprise Green Communities 2020 standards, Passive House, EPA Energy Star, EPA Indoor Air Plus, and DOE Zero Energy Ready Home standards. Property amenities will include a green roof, a leasing office, a ground floor community room, a fitness center, an outdoor terrace, an on-site permanent supportive housing management office and 14 surface parking spaces. H.R. Crawford Gardens is within walking distance of Marvin Gaye Park, HD Woodson High School Aquatic Center, and the Watts Branch Recreation Center.
Through its Multifamily Lending and Neighborhood Investment and Capital Markets divisions, DCHFA issues tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds to lower the developers’ costs of acquiring, constructing and rehabilitating rental housing. The Agency offers private for-profit and non-profit developers low-cost predevelopment, construction and permanent financing that supports the new construction, acquisition, and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing in the District.
