The residents of Sursum Corda, a low-income housing co-operative 10 blocks north of the U.S. Capitol, were facing foreclosure and the threat of eviction by federal housing officials. The problem of saving their homes fell to co-operative President Beverly Estes, a former welfare mother with a GED and a smattering of college English courses.
Estes, 51, knew nothing about real estate or federal housing regulations. So for advice, she turned to David Chestnut, 52, a down-on-his-luck community organizer working as a Baltimore trash collector.
Over the past five months, they have engineered what admirers describe as the miraculous rescue of Sursum Corda. But detractors fear that Estes and Chestnut have bartered away to developers one of the most valuable parcels of affordable housing left in the nation's capital -- 5 1/2 acres of prime real estate worth an estimated $80 million.
The sprawling, notoriously crime-ridden complex of 199 units is one of the few housing developments in the nation owned and managed by its low-income residents. After the property failed two health and safety inspections, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued a foreclosure notice in January.
Estes and the co-operative's board of directors rejected offers of help from the city and a nonprofit developer and, with Chestnut's guidance, assembled a group of politically connected partners that includes several former Washington Redskins, the wife of U.S. Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) and KSI Services Inc., one of the region's largest developers. The team persuaded HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson to give Sursum Corda another chance, halted a mass eviction threatened for June 15 and is spending at least $1.1 million to ready the property for a last-ditch inspection that could end the threat of foreclosure.
Those involved in the partnership have declined to discuss details, saying they are not final. KSI President Richard W. Hausler said his company has a handshake agreement with Sursum Corda's board to redevelop the property, replacing the shabby apartments and townhouses with more than 300 mixed-income units. Sursum residents in good standing are guaranteed homes and a chance at home ownership, Chestnut and board members said. Hausler said those who do not stay will be offered "the benefit of their ownership" stake in the property.
The secrecy surrounding the deal has spawned conspiracy theories among community activists, city planners and some Sursum residents, who have long worried about developers snatching the low-income apartment buildings clustered near North Capitol Street. The once desolate neighborhood now lies within walking distance of the New York Avenue Metro stop, the Washington Convention Center and new luxury condominiums.
"Somebody sees an opportunity to make some money on a deal with a group of gullible, inexperienced people," was how David Gilmore, a housing consultant who advises tenant activists in the area, described the situation.
Alverta Munlyn, a former resident leader at Sursum Corda, stated her concerns more bluntly.
"There's just a flimflam going on over there right now," Munlyn said after a contentious community meeting at which Estes and Chestnut refused to answer questions about the redevelopment plan. "If you're truly there for the people, what do you have to hide?"
Estes said Munlyn is "spitting fear."
"Do I look as stupid as they think I am?" she asked during a recent interview in Sursum Corda's community room, her 2-year-old granddaughter snuggling at her knees. "Why would I be making a deal to cut my own head off?"
