Dantes Partners Taking Over St. E’s Project, Petworth Building From Shuttered NDC
Neighborhood Development Co., the D.C. multifamily development firm that said it was ending operations as of Sept. 30, has given over control of a planned development and an existing affordable building to a longtime partner.
Dantes Partners reached agreements with NDC to take over the Parcel 13 project on the St. Elizabeths East campus in Congress Heights and the building at 4100 Georgia Ave. NW in Petworth, Dantes CEO Buwa Binitie told Bisnow. The Washington Business Journal first reported the St. Elizabeths agreement.
Binitie's commercial real estate career was launched under NDC CEO Adrian Washington at NDC, where he worked for two years starting in 2005. Binitie said he “felt compelled” to help move the company's mission forward.
Additionally, he said the St. Elizabeths East project offers a rare opportunity in today's market to advance a new affordable housing development.
Washington didn't respond to a request for comment. His firm was awarded the development rights to St. E's Parcel 13 in November 2020 by Mayor Muriel Bowser's administration.
Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Nina Albert said in a statement to Bisnow that the District has consented to the agreement between NDC and Dantes to transfer control of the development.
“This dynamic project will bring more housing, more jobs, and more amenities that this community wants and deserves, and we’re excited to keep the momentum going at the St. Elizabeths East campus,” Albert said.
The Petworth building features 72 units, which are restricted to renters making up to 60% of the area median income, above a Yes! Organic Market. Binitie said his firm was a partner in building the project 15 years ago and has retained its minority stake. Now, Dantes has struck a deal to take control of the asset.
“That was my first new construction project in D.C., so it owes major sentimental value to me,” Binitie told Bisnow.
The pipeline of new affordable housing has slowed over the last year due to high interest rates and construction costs, along with a problem in D.C.'s housing system that has made many affordable buildings unprofitable: a soaring number of tenants not paying rent while remaining in units.
The D.C. Council passed an emergency bill to address a loophole in the Emergency Rental Assistance Program that caused delays in eviction cases, and the city plans to divert all of the money from its Housing Production Trust fund this year to stabilizing existing properties, rather than spurring new construction.
Binitie said he still has concerns with the state of the affordable housing system in D.C., but he is optimistic enough that the council will solve the problem that he was willing to make additional investments to take over two NDC properties — especially because there will be few other opportunities for new construction in the near-term.
“The concern is still very prominent as far as I’m concerned, and not only is it prominent, but there’s been little to no production that has taken place, so this is the one opportunity for us to inject new product into the marketplace,” he said. “So I’m hopeful the council would work to address this issue in due time so we can go back to producing much-needed housing.”
The District awarded the St. Elizabeths parcel to NDC in November 2020 after a request for proposals process. Washington told Bisnow at the time he saw the project as a “mind-blowing” opportunity, given that he grew up in the neighborhood.
NDC's proposal called for 421 units and 21K SF of retail on the 2.9-acre site next to the Entertainment & Sports Arena, a facility on the St. Elizabeths Campus where the WNBA's Washington Mystics play their home games. It would have set aside more than 25% of the units as affordable for those earnings 30% to 50% of AMI.
NDC never closed its deal with the District, and Dantes Partners wouldn't be bounded by the prior developer's proposal, only by the requirements of the RFP, WBJ reported. Binitie told Bisnow he is still studying the site to determine the best use of the property.
The St. Elizabeths East campus, half of the site of the former mental health hospital that closed in 2003, consists of 18 parcels that the District has been awarding individually to developers. In addition to the 4,200-seat arena, the campus has seen the development of a R.I.S.E. Demonstration Center, a 252-unit apartment building and a 22K SF interim retail village. The west portion of the campus is owned by the federal government, which is redeveloping it for a consolidated headquarters for the Department of Homeland Security.
