502 H-1 HOMES FOR AN INCLUSIVE CITY

502.1 This section of the Housing Element addresses housing production, both for market rate and affordable units.

502.2 Washington, DC must sustain a high rate of housing production to meet current and projected needs through 2025 and remain economically vibrant. Over the next 15 years, through 2035, the District’s housing stock is forecast to increase from a base of about 310,000 units in 2015 to 397,000 units in 2035. Between 2015 and 2020, 23,000 additional units are expected to be built, based on projects that are now under construction, soon to break ground, or by conversion to smaller units. Mayor’s Order 2019-036 initiated the goal to accelerate the rate of housing production between 2019 and 2025 to achieve 36,000 new units, 12,000 of which are affordable, which will be needed by 2025 to improve affordability and the long-term balance between demand and supply. This is equivalent to 5,100 additional units per year. This is higher than the rate of production experienced during 2010-2015, and demand pressures suggest there is a need for even more. However, the District issued permits for an average of 4,483 units of new construction per year after recovering from the national recession, indicating this target of 5,100 units per year is not out of reach. Figure 5.6 illustrates the goal for both total and income-restricted affordable units per Figure 5.4 and how the goal would extend through 2030 and 2050. These goals provide measurable benchmarks that will require public, non-profit, and private sector action to achieve. Prioritizing affordable housing production is critical to reducing existing disparities in access to housing, particularly for communities of color.

502.3 Figure 5.6 Total Residential and Affordable Unit Goals: 2018-2050

	2018 Base	2020 Estimated	2025 Pipeline	2025 Goal	2030	2050
Total Residential Units	324,300	334,600	360,300		384,200	456,890
2018 - 2025 Total Increase	36,000
Total Dedicated Affordable	51,960	55,867	59,930	63,960	71,930	96,160
2018 - 2025 Affordable Increase	12,000
Percent Affordable	16.0%	16.7%	16.6%	17.8%	18.7%	21.0%
Base
Forecast/Pipeline Estimates
Housing Goals

Source: OP, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development (DMPED)

502.4 As noted in the Land Use and Framework Elements, Washington, DC already has the land resources to meet this demand. But land alone is not enough to ensure the production of housing, and housing production alone does not guarantee that a portion of the new units will be affordable to all households. The approach needs to vary with the characteristics of the site and surrounding conditions. For

instance, infill housing development in Neighborhood Conservation Areas typically has infrastructure but can be constrained by lot sizes and is dependent on surrounding market strength. Redevelopment of ground floor uses along the District's Main Street mixed-use corridors is often delayed until market demand drives housing prices high enough to overcome the return provided by the existing uses. Neighborhood Enhancement Areas need not only comprehensive infrastructure investment but also catalytic projects to demonstrate the viability of further private sector investment. Finally, large sites with significant capacity need major infrastructure investment to knit them into their surrounding neighborhoods.

502.5 A multi-pronged strategy is needed to facilitate production, address regulatory and administrative constraints, and deliver a substantial number of the new units that are affordable to District residents, particularly to moderate and lower income residents. Potential regulatory strategies to maximize housing production might include regulatory relief, such as flexibility with zoning height and expedited entitlement review and permitting. Financing strategies might include tax credits and abatements and other financing tools. The 2006 Comprehensive Housing Strategy established many of the basic tenets of this strategy. Additional information is provided in the text box titled The Comprehensive Housing Strategy on the following page.

502.6 Participation from private sector investors is critical to achieving Washington, DC's housing goal and presents several challenges as they pursue investment opportunities. Some locations remain underused within the permitted density for a variety of reasons. In some locations, existing ground floor uses produce a sufficiently high return that discourages and delays redevelopment. In other locations, the increased construction costs needed for taller building types sometimes lead investors to use lower density, less expensive methods that underuse a site's potential development capacity. Finally, development of new supply tends to slow down as soon as supply starts to meet demand, and the pace of absorption and revenue growth slows or declines below investors' expectations. These are economic realities that all cities face.

502.6a Text Box: The Comprehensive Housing Strategy

The housing policies of the Comprehensive Plan were introduced in 2003, when the D.C. Council passed the Comprehensive Housing Strategy Act, creating a task force charged with developing recommendations on the housing needs of current and future residents of the District. It included strategies for preserving and creating mixed-income neighborhoods; assessing the quality, availability, and affordability of rental housing; creating homeownership opportunities; preventing displacement; assessing housing for persons with disabilities; promoting moderate-income housing; and increasing the District's population by 100,000 residents.

502.6b The 2006 task force report, Homes for an Inclusive City, presented seven recommendations for improving housing affordability and growing the population. Foremost among these was the production of 55,000 new housing units, including 19,000 affordable units, and the preservation of at least 30,000 existing affordable units. The report includes strategies to increase the homeownership rate, provide direct assistance to 14,600 low-income renter households, and include affordable housing in the new neighborhoods to be developed during the next 15 years.

502.6c Subsequent task forces have built upon the original strategies found in Homes for an Inclusive City and developed additional policies found in the Bridges to Opportunity and Housing Preservation Strike Force final reports. These efforts focused on strategies and initiatives such as providing wraparound supportive social service contracts into affordable housing investments. In addition, the District submitted to HUD the 2016-2021 Five-Year Consolidated Plan, which includes data analysis, resident participation, and the development of an implementation program on how the District would expend funds from federal programs, including Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnership.

502.6d Many of the original strategies in Homes for an Inclusive City were carried forward into the 2006 Comprehensive Plan Housing Element. The policies from the subsequent task force are included and built upon in the amended Comprehensive Plan. This is an important step toward their implementation and will move the District one step closer to achieving its housing goals.

SOURCE: District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; 31 DCR 1049 (March 9, 1984)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Element Amendment Act of 1984, effective March 16, 1985 (D.C. Law 5-187; 32 DCR 873 (February 15, 1985)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-129; 37 DCR 55 (January 5, 1990)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989 NCPC-Recommended Amendments, and Closing of Public Alleys in Square 669, S.O. 88-452, Act of 1990, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-132; 37 DCR 2213 (April 6, 1990)); as amended by District Government Land Use Temporary Amendment Act of 1994, effective October 1, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-190; 41 DCR 5360 (August 12, 1994)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1994, effective October 6, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-193; 41 DCR 5536 (August 19, 1994)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Amendment Act of 1994, effective March 21, 1995 (D.C. Law 10-235; 42 DCR 30 (January 6, 1995)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1996 effective April 18, 1996 (D.C. Law 11-110; 43 DCR 530 (February 9, 1996)); as amended by Second Technical Amendments Act of 1996 effective April 9, 1997 (D.C. Law 11-255; 44 DCR 1271 (March 7, 1997)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 1998, effective April 27, 1999 (D.C. Law 12-275; 46 DCR 1441 (February 19, 1999)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1999, effective April 12, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-91; 47 DCR 520 (January 28, 2000)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2006, effective March 8, 2007 (D.C. Law 16-300; 54 DCR 924 (February 2, 2007)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 2008, effective March 25, 2009 (D.C. Law 17-353; 56 DCR 1117 (February 6, 2009)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2010, effective April 8, 2011 (D.C. Law 18-361; 58 DCR 908 (February 4, 2011)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2021, effective August 21,

2021 (D.C. Law 24-20; 68 DCR 006918 (July 16, 2021)).