Bill Would Require Affordable Housing in Sales of Public Land in Washington D.C.

Reed, writing for the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, urges the council to approve the bill: "The Disposition of District Land for Affordable Housing Act of 2013…would allow DC land to be sold below market value to subsidize the costs of the affordable housing. This is a smart approach because it would use land value – rather than needing to use tax dollars – and because it would create mixed-income communities throughout DC."

A few of the details of the proposed bill, scheduled for consideration by the full council on Monday, July 14:

• "30 percent of the new housing would need to be affordable if it is built within a one-half mile of a metro stop, or one-quarter of a mile from a bus priority corridor or streetcar line. In other areas, 20 percent of the units would need to be affordable."
• "In housing built as rental, one-fourth of the low-cost units would be for residents making 30 percent or less of area median income (AMI) or $29,000 for a family of three.  The rest of the affordable units would be for residents making 50 percent of AMI, or $48,300 for a family of three."