Northwest One Revival
17 06 2008The Northwest One project in Ward 6 is comprised of five low-income housing complexes that have historically been an epicenter of crime in the city. This project represents a rare opportunity to undo decades of poor urban planning in an area bound by North Capitol Street on the east, New York Avenue on the north, and New Jersey Avenue on the west.
When it’s complete, Northwest One will include 1600 units of mixed-income housing, 40,000 SF of retail, and 220,000 SF of commercial office space. The coolest part of the project is that One Vision Development Partners has promised to replace each subsidized housing unit with a new unit and provide roughly two times as many new market rate and workforce units.
The District is also investing about $45 million to rebuild the nearby Walker-Jones Elementary School, incorporating a new recreation center and public library. These are the type of projects that can truly change a neighborhood for the better, all while avoiding the trend of pushing out the current residents like some of the other hot developments in the District have done.
underwhelmed by the rendering… although I am glad to see it — is there a website with more? Thanks!
Honestly, that’s too much affordable housing than is sustainable. I know that’s not PC, but it’s true. Anything over 10-15% is going to drive people out.
SGDC: where would you have the current residents go? That’s a real big problem with projects like these. Though I’m elated to see this neighborhood finally getting some much needed attention and I deplore the concept of massive soviet-looking housing projects, we have to be very careful not to displace large numbers of people without doing something significant to help them out. Obviously not an easy issue to solve, but we’ve got to try.
Um, if the current projects are “an epicenter of crime in the city” then why it is so cool that all of the current residents will be living in the new development? If an individual is a criminal of some kind, how confident are we that this individual will no longer engage in criminal acts because the housing is nicer and the neighbors are middle-class? Might that individual potentially be MORE likely to continue to engage in criminal acts, in light of the fact that there are more targets of opportunity in the individual’s immediate vicinity (e.g., people with some money who could either serve as targets for property crimes or to whom drugs could be sold). Why not just break up pockets of poverty and let the chips fall where they may? Without the subsidized housing, the District would get a double tax bonus here - the properties would yeild more property tax because they would be worth more, and higher income people would be more likely to live there, yeilding more income tax. The District could then dispose of the increased tax revenue in whatever way it saw fit, such as by providing housing subsidies to the people displaced in the first instance.
Well Mose that is precisely why there is investment in not only the housing, but in the community facilities like rec centers an libraries and well maintained buildings and new lighting etc that make places safer. Sorry to break it to you but not all poor people are criminals and they have to live somewhere.
There’s no reason poor people need to live in what would otherwise be some of the most valuable real estate in the city.
Currently the area is a nightmare of drugs and prostitution and other sundry crime that cuts off the whole eastern part of the city from the core.
It is time to admit that warehousing people in government projects just doesn’t work. Let the residents find and pay for their own housing just like everyone else. We have two million people come to this country every year with only the clothes on their backs. I think these people should be fine.
Providing this free housing hurts them, it doesn’t help them. It breaks their character and destroys their proper motivation. We’ve already learned all these lessons. I hope we don’t doom the area for another 40 years by trying to cram the same criminals back into this space.
Steve - I’m happy to clarify that I don’t think all poor people are criminals. I also appreciate you letting me know that poor people have to live somewhere. Such an informative place, is the internet! I would suggest, however, that you need to broaden your horizons if you think the only place that poor people can live is in subsidized housing located on what would otherwise be very valuable real estate.
What’s considered Market Rate for a development that includes a high % of subsidized housing? You can build a unit with the same floorplan & finishes as Yale Lofts a few blocks down NY Ave and I’d need a 25-40% discount to even consider the unit in NWOne. I hope the city & developers don’t expect urban professionals to pay the same in NWOne as they would anywhere else in nearby NoMA or MVT?
In response to the comments above:
Consistently, crime is correlated with concentration of poor individuals, where hopelessness is everywhere and crime seems like a good option. In these places, the majority of law abiding citizens, are swamped by the presence of criminals above a tolerance. The most effective way of dealing with this has been pretty well proven to be lower densities of poor people, either mixed in with wealthier neighbors, or just over less land. The latter is clearly not an option. Restricting the inclusive housing to families, and providing useful community services often returns those on welfare to taxpayers. Rent-to own arrangements helps even more.
The alternative to crime and welfare getting paid minimum wage in thankless jobs that have no future. Since many young men are incarcerated, usually for regressive and wasteful drug charges, so can’t get good jobs anyway.
For sure, residents need to take responsibility for their actions but I seriously doubt that most people west of Rock Creek would do any better without a better environment. Examples of people who truly rise out of the situations tend to be truly exceptional individuals.
Interestingly, places where people do not collect welfare and are living on minimum wage, such as in larger chinatowns and illegal ghettoes, crime is just as high, diseases are higher, and abuse and integration into the city is far worse.
DC has always had an issue with “self-declared victims” and the “gimme-more” entitlement mentality. I’m sick of always being told to “help” these people. I don’t might helping someone who is down on their luck, but I find it unfair to “help” people maintain a lifestyle whatever it may be. I work so I can provide for myself. I don’t rely on the help of others. Public housing should be a temporary solution to a problem, not a permanent solution.
That isnt correct the ” bound by North Capitol Street on the east, New York Avenue on the north, and New Jersey Avenue on the west.”
As i recall the area of Above M Street between New York Ave & North Capitol Isnt public housing, The houses on New York Ave Between 1 ST & North Capitol are private property and by what was stated makes it sound like that is apart of this which it is not.
And for the people saying about how the people are using the system, do you know for a fact that everylast person in the area is using the system no you dont so you cant really make a judgement like that, that is being prejudice to people of a lower class
disappointment.
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[…] DCMetrocentric has renderings of Northwest One project just east of the Triangle’s New Jersey Ave border. This development aims to tear down and rebuild the area (including the Sursum Corda housing projects) as a new community. Northwest One will be mixed income, mixed use including a new clinic, library, recreation center, and rebuilt Walker-Jones elementary school. Tags: Blog, DDOT, NWOne, Shaw, Transit […]