Golden Rule Apartments: Winner of 6th Annual DCHFA Affordable Housing Development Award

(Washington, D.C.) – The D.C. Housing Finance Agency (HFA) has awarded its 6^th Annual Affordable Housing Development Award of Excellence to Golden Rule Apartments, Inc., MissionFirst Development and The Henson Development Company for the rehabilitation of Golden Rule Apartments, which is a 183-mid-rise apartment building located at 901 New Jersey Avenue NW located within the city’s Northwest One Neighborhood (NW1). Thanks to the partnership, the apartments will undergo a much needed renovation, and the apartments will be affordable to households with incomes at or below 60 percent of the Area Median Income, which $54,720 for a family of four.

The annual award is presented to the HFA-financed development that most exemplifies a quality affordable housing project in Washington. In Fiscal Year 2006, the HFA financed eight multifamily housing developments resulting in the production and preservation of 1,164 affordable housing units. With a total agency investment for the year of $71.2 million in tax-exempt and taxable bonds and $42.7 million in Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, the HFA supported the construction or preservation of affordable housing units in Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg Senior Building and Golden Rule Apartments in Ward 6; New Eastgate Phase II and George Washington Carver Apartments in Ward 7; and Hunter Pines Apartments, Galen Terrace, Garfield Hills and Southview I & II Apartments in Ward 8. Golden Rule Apartments ranked the highest among HFA-financed projects in the following five categories: best construction concept, affordability, community need, cost efficiency and uniqueness.

“Committed developers who produce affordable housing in our high-cost city deserve to be acknowledged for their hard work and dedication. Our Annual Affordable Housing Development Award of Excellence is one such acknowledgement that provides developers with a much-deserved recognition for their efforts,” said Harry D. Sewell, Executive Director of the D.C. Housing Finance Agency.

The HFA provided $12.6 million in tax-exempt bond financing for the acquisition and rehabilitation of Golden Rule Apartments. The development team also received $9.3 million in Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and a $950,000 Community Development Block Grant loan from the Department of Housing of Community Development. In addition, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development extended the Section 8 HAP contract for 20 years.

Golden Rule Apartments has 53 one-bedroom one-bathroom units, 112 two-bedroom two-bathroom units, and 18 three-bedroom two-bathroom units. A substantial rehabilitation is planned for the building, including renovations to the apartments, safety enhancements and improvements to an existing on-site daycare center, which serves both children who reside in Golden Rule Apartments and the surrounding neighborhood. The total development budget is over $25 million, and renovations are expected to be complete in September 2008.

The HFA announces the winner of the Affordable Housing Development Award of Excellence each December. Winners receive a plaque and are honored at a special HFA-sponsored event. The award is the agency’s opportunity to recognize developers who help bring quality affordable housing to low- and moderate income residents and provide exemplary contributions to the production of housing in Washington.