CLUB PROPERTY FOR SALE
Developer Offers to Help Buy Site for a Community Center
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Saturday, June 9, 2007
A prominent developer has agreed to help a community group that is vying to buy a property that the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington plans to sell.
Douglas Jemal said he is willing to put up a portion of the cash that the group would need to buy the club's Eastern Branch facility, on 17th Street SE.
Jemal said in an interview that the group would own the property but that he would help raise the money for a down payment.
He said he was approached by leaders of the newly formed group, Neighbors United, who told him that they hoped to turn the property into a community center.
"I like them. I like their cause," Jemal said. "It's going to serve an important purpose in the community."
The Boys and Girls Clubs announced in April that it would seek to redevelop four properties, including the Eastern Branch and the Jelleff club in Georgetown.
The organization has not set a sales price for the Eastern Branch parcel, whose assessed value is $3 million.
Will A. Gunn, the organization's chief executive, said the group plans to review all bids in the coming months.
"We are in the process of interviewing people to augment our staff to manage this process," he said. "We want it to start this summer."
Although the organization has announced no plans to close Jelleff, the Eastern Branch is slated to shut in August. Neighbors United wants to keep the building open for local organizations.
Will Cobb, a business consultant who helped organize Neighbors United, said the group hopes to offer programs for toddlers and seniors, among other activities.
He allowed for the possibility that the group would lease space to the Boys and Girls Clubs branch.
"There's very much a need for neighborhood services," Cobb said. "There's no real community center."
Cobb, a former candidate for D.C. Council, approached Jemal for help after the Boys and Girls Clubs announced that it planned to sell the property.
Jemal said he does not know how much money he would contribute toward the purchase. "I'm from Brooklyn; you're not going to put me in a box," he said.
