$134M Financing Secured for Barry Farm Affordable Housing Development
DEBARYLIFE – A $134.1 million financing package for The Edmonson, an 189-unit affordable housing complex in Washington, D.C., has been given to a joint venture between Preservation of Affordable Housing and the District of Columbia Housing Authority. This project is the second phase of the continuing remodeling operations at Barry Farm.
The financing consists of a $21 million note that was started by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development’s New Communities Initiative, $52 million in federal LIHTC supplied by DCHFA, and $61.1 million in tax-exempt bonds issued by the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency.
Built on DCHA-owned land, The Edmonson will rise four stories and have 139 LIHTC-restricted units available to residents making 30, 50, 60, and 80 percent of the area’s median income.
Additionally, the project will contain fifty replacement public housing units with one or two bedrooms supported by federal money and designated for individuals with an AMI of 30 or 50.
22,000 square feet of retail space are planned. Amenities including a business center, playground, gym, and community room will be available to residents.
Situated at the intersection of Firth Sterling Avenue and Suitland Parkway, the location offers multiple public transportation choices for accessibility. These are all within walking distance, including the Anacostia Subway Station (a stop on the Green Line) and other bus stops.
A centuries-old, reasonably priced historic restoration
According to a 2022 article in the DCist, Barry Farm’s history dates back to the 1860s, when a group of Black individuals who had been slaves and were free at birth lived there.
Using eminent domain, The National Capital Housing Authority built 432 public housing units on a portion of the property in 1943, nearly a century later.
A few more decades later, the city started the New Community Initiative, which included Barry Farm as one of its target properties and sought to revitalize public housing.
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Nearly ten years after the initiative’s inception, in 2014, the authorities approved zoning permits, with the original design entailing the building of 1,400 residential units.
Owing to multiple lawsuits, the development was postponed and then changed in 2022 to include 900 affordable housing units, around 480 of which replaced the ones that were demolished. In that same year, work on the redevelopment, which was supposed to take almost eight years, started in earnest.
The initial phase of Barry Farm’s renovation
The Asberry, a $64 million affordable senior housing project constructed by the National Affordable Housing Trust, DCHA, and POAH, was built as part of Barry Farm’s first phase of rehabilitation.
The Asberry was financed with $43 million that was started by DMPED and $33.7 million in tax-exempt bonds that were issued by DCHFA for its development. By 2024, the developers hope to have completed the project.