Greenleaf Gardens Recipient of Hope VI Grant (APRIL FOOLS POST)

At a press conference this morning, the Mayor announced that Greenleaf Gardens will be the latest recipient of a Hope VI Revitalization Grant from HUD to redevelop the public housing complex into a mixed-use community. There are currently 278 units at the DCHA-run Greenleaf Gardens, covering 15 acres of land. The site is bounded by I Street to the north, 3rd Street to the west, M Street to the south, and Delaware Avenue to the east as outlined in the above image in red.

“As our city continues to grow, we need to look at ways that we can better leverage the assets we have in our public housing communities, “said the Mayor during the press conference. “With this grant from HUD, we will be able to maintain modern, clean, affordable housing for our residents, while at the same time provide additional residential density one block away from Metro.”

There is a lot of development activity in the vicinity of Greenleaf Gardens. To the west, The Bernstein Companies is planning three new residential buildings at Town Center. The Southwest Library will be completely renovated over the next four years. In addition, the SW Library park will soon become a new playground. Lansburgh Park is located just to the east, which will get a dog park and community garden this summer. To the south, a new St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church and 200-unit apartment building are supposed to break ground before the end of the year.  

As proposed, the Hope VI project will have approximately 1,600 units in a mix of building types. The 278 units of affordable housing will be replaced one for one and will be scattered throughout the project while the remaining units will be market-rate. There will be 150 townhomes in the northernmost block between I Street and K Street, 650 units in four mid-rise buildings in the middle block between K Street and L Street, and 800 units in two high-rise towers in the southernmost block from L Street to M Street. There will be ground-floor retail space available on the M Street buildings. The buildings will primarily be rental apartments, but there will be a for-sale component, depending on market conditions. It will take several years for this project to be built, maybe never, since this post is just an April Fools’ Day joke.