City Will Give Group Land Near Capitol in Exchange for Georgia Avenue Property
By Elissa Silverman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 18, 2008
The D.C. Council voted in a special session yesterday to sell a former city-owned homeless shelter to the privately run Central Union Mission, after concerns about an economic analysis of the proposal stopped the bill from being voted on Tuesday night at the council's legislative meeting.
The council voted 10 to 1 on the emergency bill, with Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) the lone dissenter. Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) and Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), who was on jury duty, were not present. The action disposed of the historic structure known as the Gales School, which closed as a shelter in 2004, and surrounding land at 65 Massachusetts Ave. NW near the U.S. Capitol.
The deal is a land swap that came about after residents of Petworth and Columbia Heights defeated the mission's initial plan to relocate on the 3500 block of Georgia Ave. NW. That property, which was designed to be a four-story shelter with at least 150 beds, was bought around the time the mission sold its headquarters in the gentrifying 14th Street corridor in Ward 2.
Some advocates for the homeless who opposed the deal had applauded the decision of council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) to delay a vote. They said the city should keep its commitment to reopen Gales as a city-owned shelter, which was outlined in the "Homeless No More" plan of the previous administration. Opponents also questioned whether the city was getting its money's worth in the swap.
"If you just look at the values of the two pieces of property, there is a big difference," said Andy Silver, a lawyer with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless.
Gales, situated among shiny new offices and apartment complexes in the city's NoMa neighborhood, is valued at $8.93 million, according to tax records. As part of the deal, the city would also give the mission $7 million to rebuild the site, which contains only a shell of the former school building.
In exchange for Gales, the District will receive the Georgia Avenue property, valued at $2.68 million.
But what concerned council members the most Tuesday were several policy statements contained in an economic analysis of the Gales School deal. The analysis had been attached to the legislation.
One stated plans to close another emergency homeless shelter, the Franklin School at 13th and K streets NW, in October. Another involved a shelter at the old D.C. General Hospital site. Both items were absent from the bill yesterday.
Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), who represents the area around Georgia Avenue, said the deal will help the city move toward its goal of Housing First, a push to provide single-occupancy apartments and more permanent housing for the homeless. At least 50 units of permanent supportive housing would be part of the mixed-income residential development planned for the Georgia Avenue site, Graham said.
He called the exchange a win-win for the city and its homeless population.
Mendelson was unconvinced.
"We don't need to dispose of the property in order for it to continue as a homeless shelter," Mendelson said yesterday. "This is not about helping the homeless. This is a land deal."
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