VIDEO: Congress Heights community says you can't have 5 group homes on the same block.

The Advoc8te would like to point out that so far we have heard this property at 1300 Congress Street SE will be used for:

Male youth offenders 16 - 21
Wards from the DC Court or Foster Care 15 - 18
An "independent living facility" for at-risk males 16 - 18
A condominium
A Youth facility
A rental facility with the units to be sold as condos to the at-risk youth
Low income housing
Housing for at-risk males ages 18 - 24

Excerpts from the contract that outline the $4,400,000.00 low interest loan from DHCD to the Peaceoholics.

Dec 19, 2008
From a letter from Mayor Fenty to Chairman Vincent Gray:
"...from the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF) to fund the aquisition an related coss associated with the purchase of 35 affordable housing unites located at, 1424 L Street, SE; 1636 Lyman Place, NE; 400 Oklahoma Avenue NE; and 1271-1275Meigs Place, NE in Wards 5 and 6. Once purchased, the units will provide supportive housing for at risk male youths transitioning out of the Districts' foster care system/judicial system. DHCD will be providing approzimatetly 56% funding for this project and willhold a second lien position on the property."

From the Council Contract  Summary:
"Peaceoholis Inc, was an awardee in response to the DHCD/DFD FY 2009 Request for Proposals (RFP), issued in October 2008 with responses excepted in January 2007.  DHCD, through it's underwriting process, has determined that the project is economically feasible and meets the objectives of the District of Columbia's Consolidated Action Plan and Mayor Adrian M.Fenty's goals for sustaining and increasing the amount of affordable housing in the District of Columbia."

Dec 17,2008
Office of the Attorney General Memo:
"The proposed loan will provide aquisition financing to Peaceoholics.  More particularly, the loan funds will be used to finance the acquisition and related closing costs of he land and improvemeents located at 1424 L Street  SE; 1636 Lyman  Place NE; 400 Oklahoma Avenue,NE; and 1271-1275 Meigs Place NE, Washington, DC (the "Property").  Peaceoholics seeks to acquire and rehabiliate the Property to provide decent, long-term affordable and supportive housing known as the Strategic Housing Intervention Program ("SHIP").  Peaceohlics will develop thirty-five (35) housing units targeted for at risk male youth transitioning from the District's foster care system or young wards of the District living in poverty without parents.  The SHIP housing units will for a periof of forty (40) years  be rented or occupied exclusively to and at rent or contribution levels that are affordabel to persons with total household income equal to or less than 30% of the Area Medium Income."

Also at yesterday's meeting with CM Michael Brown's staff it as determined after reviewing the  initial agreement between the Peaceoholics and the Department of Housing and Community Development that gave the 4.4 million dollar loan that the 1300 Congress Street SE property is not mentioned in the initial project that was presented to the counsel. Currently CM Brown's office is researching if and when an amendment was executed that would have included and approved the purchase of 1300 Congress Street SE.




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