WASHPO: A Framework for Hope

New Apartments Help Dim Memory Of Troubled Complex

By Yamiche Alcindor
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 5, 2009

The quiet hallways with bright, mayonnaise-colored walls and tangerine doors at the Overlook are a stark difference from the once-dark and boisterous corridors of Parkside Terrace, the building's former moniker. Before city officials and developers poured $73 million into the building at 3700 Ninth Street SE, the neighborhood fixture was one of several public housing units plagued by drugs, criminals and violent attacks.

"This is a miracle," said the Rev. Everett Hackney, 76, one of Parkside Terrace's first residents when it opened in 1968. "We had people getting shot, robbings in the halls. A lot of us were hoping and praying for this a long time. Now God has made that hope a reality. For me, this building -- this is God."


Next weekend, Hackney will join 57 tenants and move back in to the building that he saw decaying around him.

There's almost nothing left of the old Parkside Terrace. In 2003, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development terminated its Section 8 contract and issued vouchers to help residents relocate. Two years later, the last Parkside Terrace resident moved out. Work began on the Overlook in 2008. The building's columns, foundation and a portion of its brick facade are all that remain of the original structure.


Residents now have three acres of green space and access-controlled parking. Every unit comes with new appliances and high-speed Internet capability. Community rooms, a computer room, a laundry room and a playground are on-site, and developers plan to add a credit union with ATM service, hair salon, convenience store and health-care suite for seniors. For most of the day and night, security guards pace the halls and monitor the building's more than 120 cameras.


"This can really be seen as a symbol of revitalization for the neighborhood," said Gerald H. Joseph, vice president and director of real estate development for Community Preservation and Development, a District-based nonprofit group. His organization, along with Crawford Edgewood Management, a company headed by former D.C. Council member H.R. Crawford, completed the work. "It has impacts on individuals, families and the community. We built this kind of building to change live," Joseph said.


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