How Waterside Mall in SW DC - displacement fears

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How Southwest’s Waterside Mall, Waterfront Station, and the Wharf connect with displacement fears for Greenleaf public housing residents

HousingBy Nena Perry-Brown (Editorial Board) May 8, 2020 15

This is the fourth article in our series exploring Greenleaf Gardens, a public housing community in Southwest that’s slated for redevelopment.

In the previous article, we discussed how Greenleaf Gardens was constructed in 1957 through a concept called urban renewal. While the plan was to transform the so-called "slums" of Southwest into a more desirable neighborhood, urban renewal quickly became an example of poor neighborhood planning. Moreover, the development in Southwest resulted in the displacement of over 23,000 people — most of whom were Black.

We’re now taking a look at the 21st century evolution of the area surrounding Greenleaf Gardens, as leaders attempt to fix problems that urban renewal caused and accomplish some of the concept’s earlier goals. Meanwhile, current residents of Greenleaf Gardens must also contend with new issues emerging as gentrification sweeps Southwest and threatens to make them the next DC community displaced in the name of illusory progress.

Waterside Mall by Library of Congress.

A redeveloped Waterside Mall seeks to undo urban renewal’s mistakes

A century ago, 4th Street SW (then 4 ½ Street) was a vibrant commercial corridor, offering a central location where Southwest residents could patronize small businesses despite segregation delineating one side of the street from the other.

The Redevelopment Land Agency, which initiated urban renewal, proposed the construction of Waterside Mall. Looming over the 4th and M Street SW intersection, the bulky, modernist office/retail shopping center completed in the early 1970s created a physical barrier dividing the neighborhood, making it unwalkable and unwelcoming.

In 2001, then-mayor Anthony Williams announced that the massive, obsolete structure (and its Safeway grocery store) would be razed and replaced with over 1 million square feet each of residences and office space along a revitalized 4th Street corridor, creating a more approachable community called Waterfront Station — just outside of the Waterfront-SEU Metro station that had been constructed 10 years prior.

Demolition happened under subsequent mayor Adrian Fenty in 2007, jumpstarting a construction boom in Southwest that continues to this day. Only two of the four Waterfront Station parcels have been developed since then, anchored by a new office building housing city government agencies and a new Safeway.

Over 1,600 new residential units were delivered between South Capitol and 6th Streets SW since Waterfront Station was established. Of those, more than half were built within two blocks of Greenleaf Gardens. Another 1,850 have been approved in that same area (including another 1,000 for the remaining Waterfront Station parcels off the 4th and M Street intersection).

The redevelopment of the Wharf finishes what urban renewal started

Despite being part of the urban renewal area, little changed along the Southwest waterfront until the 21st century. Less than a half-mile away from Greenleaf Gardens, the Wharf is under construction along 27 acres of waterfront property between Maine Avenue and the Washington Channel.

The massive development was put in motion a year before the Waterside Mall came down and required hundreds of millions in public funds to get accomplished.

The redeveloped Wharf by Ted Eytan licensed under Creative Commons.

The first phase of the Wharf began delivering in 2017, dwarfing the original Wharf that includes Maine Avenue Fish Market — the oldest surviving market of its kind in the country. As described by its development team, "The Wharf reestablished Washington, DC, as a waterfront city and destination."

By the time the new Wharf development is complete in 2023, it will have delivered almost 1,100 units along with over a million square feet of offices, retail, and hotel rooms. It has also facilitated a huge jump in housing prices in the area: the first condos there pre-sold at over $1,000 per square foot — prices typically associated with neighborhoods like Georgetown.

Quarterly median sold prices in 20024 zip code since 2010 by Bright MLS used with permission.

Although these condo prices are outliers, Southwest has gotten less affordable across the board; for example, between the second quarter of 2010 and the second quarter of 2019, the median price of homes sold in Southwest’s 20024 zip code had shot up from $230,000 to $417,750, a 55% increase including inflation. Citywide, sold prices went up by 33% over the same time.

Southwest is being hit hard by gentrification and displacement

Recent research shows that DC has experienced the most intense gentrification of any U.S. city since 2000. Southwest has stood out as an example of this: in the census tract containing the parts of Greenleaf Gardens north of M Street, the population doubled from 2000 to 2016, but the share of low-income households dropped from nearly 39% to 20% and over 160 rental units were lost. Black households were the only racial group in that area to see their population decline.

Throughout this period of transition, community members have been contemplating how to withstand change in their neighborhood, placing priority on how to keep it affordable and preserve its open spaces. These priorities were documented in the 2015 Southwest Neighborhood Plan, which established the vision that "Southwest will remain an exemplary model of equity and inclusion — a welcoming and engaged community that celebrates and retains a mix of races, ages and income levels and enhances well-being for all amidst neighborhood growth and change."

The neighborhood plan also cited redevelopment of Greenleaf Gardens as inevitable, placing priority on protecting its residents and including them in the community input involved in the plan’s creation. One of the plan’s goals was to "support the responsible redevelopment of the Greenleaf complex to benefit existing Greenleaf residents and realize a well-designed development and mixed-income community."

As the current wave of development in Southwest steamrolls forward, a number of questions remain. How will the city guarantee not to replicate the same levels of displacement caused by urban renewal 60 years ago, or even the more recent changes caused by gentrification? And how can existing Greenleaf Gardens residents expect that they will "benefit" from redevelopment of their homes?

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Nena Perry-Brown is a Takoma Park native and current Takoma DC resident with intergenerational ties to the District. She writes for online real estate development publication UrbanTurf and is a prospective graduate student in real estate. When she's not reading and writing, she's probably at a concert or crocheting somewhere.

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  • Wootness on May 8, 2020 at 11:25 am
    It has also facilitated a huge jump in housing prices in the area: the first condos there pre-sold at over $1,000 per square foot — prices typically associated with neighborhoods like Georgetown.

    Not sure this is accurate. New construction is always expensive. That doesn’t mean existing housing stock is made more expensive. The entire area has improved drastically, I’m sure existing homeowners and long-time residents are ecstatic about their home values.

  • collective liberation on May 8, 2020 at 3:32 pm

    Yikes: "The entire area has improved drastically" — for who? Certainly, not those who were displaced, or are struggling to afford the increased standard of living in the area.

    Infinite yikes: "I’m sure existing homeowners and long-time residents are ecstatic about their home values." Treating housing as a commodity is unethical. Housing = health, and as we’re seeing during this pandemic, health should not be commodified. Housing can’t be both affordable and be used for generating wealth. That’s been integral to fueling the housing crisis now.

  • cmc on May 8, 2020 at 3:57 pm
    Even those who are paying an increasing percentage of their income benefit from safer neighborhoods, increased diversity, more and improved amenities, fewer abandoned lots, increased public transportation, and general care and attention that comes to neighborhoods that see a net increase in residents and investment. Do they not deserve all of these things too?
  • collective liberation on May 8, 2020 at 10:46 pm

    Those who end up paying more of their income become less able to deal with unexpected expenses. Heaven forbid they get sick, or . They are also under more displacement pressure because as prices increase, they will likely be displaced as well. It is not the outcome that will ever significant address the affordable housing crisis.

    Lol at "increased diversity." I grew up understanding the term diversity as something positive that came with a requirement for social justice. That is far from what it means here in DC. Quoting Dr. Brandi Summers, "Instead of thinking of D.C. as ‘Chocolate City,’ people would think of D.C. as ‘diverse,’ with ‘diversity’ being the "antidote to Blackness." (more here)

  • cmc on May 12, 2020 at 8:51 am

    Yes. That lack of flexibility is a significant problem, which gets to my other point: reduce the competition for homes by building more homes, especially where there is demand.

    If I’m based in DC and I’m looking for a $600K house/condo and can’t find it my neighborhood, I’m going to move my family into other neighborhoods that fit my budget. Housing restrictions in one part of the city put pressure on relatively inexpensive neighborhoods. Either new homes are built to meet the demand or I will be directly competing with a family that can’t afford rent increases.

    And as for diversity, I don’t believe neighborhoods segregated by socio-economic status or race are good for the neighborhood or the city’s long term viability.

  • collective liberation on May 13, 2020 at 7:49 am

    Yes, build more homes, but build more homes for people that need them the most. Nearly 90% of new construction is Class-A. That caters to the rich at the expense of the poor. That is the complete opposite of justice and equity.

    I agree that segregation is bad. The building model that relies on filtering, which actually hasn’t been happening in DC, perpetuates segregation.

  • cmc on May 14, 2020 at 8:57 am

    Given the difficulty and high cost in building new housing on expensive land, it is of no surprise that most new construction is Class A. Nevertheless, I quibble with your argument that new housing caters to the "rich."

    DC wealth distribution is wide, but not so stark that there are only millionaires and those 100% dependent on welfare. There are thousands who make the regional average median income of 100K+ who have saved and want to invest in their own property or condo. These aren’t not "rich" people by any means, and they make up the majority of new homeowners in DC. In your dichotomy, where are they allowed to move?

    Just because new construction advertises themselves as "luxury," does not make them so. The truly rich elites of Washington are not clamoring for new apartments in Brentwood, despite the claims of the nebulous neighborhood groups who are delaying construction. Without those new units, where are middle class families supposed to go? In the end, they will compete with the local families, pushing out those with the least flexibility, the same the neighborhood groups are trying to protect. Not pushed out by the rich, just by those making a few thousand more a year.

    And so what if development companies are building housing for the actual rich? Let the wealthy congregate and move to City Center. That’s less competition for elsewhere in the city.

    And to your point about filtering, that is due to the severe supply shortages. Despite the prevalence of tower cranes across the city, there is still not enough housing to meet demand at various socioeconomic levels. Due to restrictive zoning regulations and neighborhood groups disrupting new projects, its easier to flip an old row house or to build a mega project on a brownfield site than it is to build the much-needed "missing middle" (e.g., quadplexes or low-rise apartment buildings).

  • collective liberation on May 14, 2020 at 3:35 pm

    Lol, all the new development I see caters to people that make $90k or more. There’s plenty of places for them to call home. MarenDC in Navy Yard offers 2 BRs for $3k/month. Envy Condos are selling 2 BRs for $800k. Average rent in SW has jumped even as the area has added a ton of new units. The city doesn’t become the most intensely gentrified city in America and have its median income increase without catering to the rich. Curious to note that median Black household income has stayed the same, while White median income has steadily increased. While they need housing, they should not be our primary concern, if justice and equity is important to you.

    I don’t care about adjectives describing housing, I care about the costs and whether those less privileged have access to housing. At some point, people are going to have to change their narrowly defined personal interests to encompass the greater good, especially the groups of people who have benefitted from America’s rapacious version of racist capitalism,. Afterall, doing good for others will in turn do good for you. Social housing, community land trusts, and limited equity co-ops are the bare minimum for moving in the right direction.

    Dr. Ibram Kendi, author of How To Be An Antiracist, writes:

    "A racist policy is any measure that produces or sustains racial inequity between racial groups. An antiracist policy is any measure that produces or sustains racial equity between racial groups. By policy, I mean written and unwritten laws, rules, procedures, processes, regulations, and guidelines that govern people."

    "Every policy in every institution in every community in every nation is producing or sustaining either racial inequity or equity between racial groups."

    "A racist is someone who is supporting a racist policy by their actions or inaction or expressing a racist idea. An antiracist is someone who is supporting an antiracist policy by their actions or expressing an antiracist idea."

    Think about who housing has disproportionately hurt. In order to create the antiracist community I hope we all want to live in, excuses for clear racist outcomes has to not only stop, but be countered by antiracist action. If the solution requires people of means to be "inconvenienced" or have to change their way of living then so be it! Society has long catered them at the expense of those we actually need to be helping!

  • cmc on May 18, 2020 at 8:35 am

    @collective liberationI’m not sure we are in disagreement here.

    I want to see a slow down the rate of growth in housing prices by maximizing density and building enough homes to meet demand at various socioeconomic levels, whether those new homes are market financed, publicly funded, or a mixture of both.

    My point that I want to underscore is that by NOT building new housing due to fear of gentrification, the only people that will hurt are those who cannot compete, the same people who are often victims of systematic racism which stole their ability to grow wealth over generations.

    Ire should be targeted at low-density neighborhoods in transit rich areas across DC, with homeowners who have managed to prevent or delay new construction directly increased housing pressure and prices in SW and elsewhere in DC.

  • cmc on May 8, 2020 at 1:15 pm

    The city can minimized displacement by continuing to maximize density in the neighborhood. As long as new housing is built to meet the growing demand, the pressure on existing housing stock and on more vulnerable renters decreases.

    Without the new, more expensive homes, property prices would have skyrocketed beyond where they currently are.

  • kk on May 8, 2020 at 5:09 pm

    @ cmc

    Is there any real proof of that ?

    Everyone says when new developments come the older buildings will be priced lower where is the proof of that ?

    Take almost anywhere on Wisconsin Ave, Connecticut Ave, 16th Street or Georgetown some of the buildings there are 70 to almost 100 years old and the prices are not that far off from modern buildings being built now in those same areas.

    Most of the newer units built are literally half the size of older units; take the size of units in older buildings usually around

    Studio or Efficiency 600 sq ft to a modern studio which is 300-500 sq ft

    1 bedroom 800-1000 sq feet old unit; new unit is around 500-700 sq feet

    2 bedrooms 1000 sq feet and up in old units; new units 800-1300 sq feet average

    Plus all of the older buildings have bedrooms that are actual rooms with windows vs a sleeping alcove. The only thing the older buildings could lack is closets depending on its age.

    Excluding someone that has a rent control unit; they would almost always be within a few hundred dollars of each other and not a big difference

  • cmc on May 12, 2020 at 9:01 am

    @kk,

    Commentator provided good examples of the typical filtering that happens in DC.

    Some longer range data is here: www.rentjungle.com/average-rent-in-wa...

    The average rents across the city have climbed fairly slowly over the last decade despite the city continuing to grow. The average rent has actually dipped a few times. I suspect we’ll see another dip or flattening as hundreds (if not thousands) of new units open at the Wharf, Navy Yard, Union Market, NoMa, and H St over the next few years.
  • Commentator on May 8, 2020 at 7:12 pm

    You proved your own point. You said the new units were the same price, but half the size as the old ones. therefore the old units are half the cost per sq ft. the exact point that was made. Also trying to rebut something about supply and price in the housing market while looking at georgetown is pretty rich and a terrible rebuttal - georgetown has functionally no new supply so its not an example of this policy working. If I choke off all new supply, and then allow 1 new unit, a developer is going to try to build the most expensive unit he can, because he can only sell one. If you want to see how supply impacts submarkets, look at Navy Yard itself, and only in the units of the last ten years. All the competition between functionally identical buildings had led to a real cheapening of units that are 5-10 years old as they aren’t as cool as the new ones. And all new units open about the same 2200, and when they do higher (like 3k) they quickly have to lower the price because of the competition.

    and for studies, here is one nationally:

    research.upjohn.org/cgi/viewcontent.c…

    and here is one for dc specific :

    twitter.com/maustermuhle/status/12526…

  • Commentator on May 8, 2020 at 7:13 pm
    Sorry this was a reply to kk above this.
  • sw resident on May 17, 2020 at 6:43 pm

    The article seems to confuse the terms "affordable housing" and "public housing." They are not the same thing and really degrades the argument.

    This series of articles seems to try to make the case that there is a cohort of Greenleaf residents with some direct line between the various phases of development in SW and a long series of broken promises to them. However, many of the families in the public housing in SW are quite young. 24% of the residents in Greenleaf are children. I know from my volunteer work that many of the families move frequently between private housing and other public housing communities for a variety of reasons. Is there any data to show how many of the current residents at Greenleaf are actually long-time residents of Greenleaf? It seems like this whole series of articles would greatly benefit by conducting some actual interviewing and polling of that community.

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