Congress Heights on the Rise

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Why don't we just call this what it really is?

Putting "affordable" housing off-site in Anacostia so a developer can build his hotel (with high-end dog spa) in NW is not okay. But it is clearly how things have been done for years (albeit not so blatantly).

Go HERE to read the full article by Aaron Wiener.

Excerpt:
Next up was the Peebles Corporation, the largest African-American-owned development company in America, which proposed a 13-story building with a 198-room hotel operated by Standard International. In addition, CEO R. Donahue Peebles said, the building would contain 59 residences, and the company would build 100 units of off-site affordable housing in Anacostia. Peebles said his team is working to bring a dog spa into the retail space. He pitched the hotel concept as one that would bring the city $8 million in annual tax revenue, which he said was $6 million more than a non-hotel use would generate—something the city will surely consider in evaluating the proposals.

In case you forgot Ward 8 has only one grocery store, three sit-down restaurants, and unemployment hovering around 25%.

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