D.C. Muriel Mayor Bowser and Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development John Falcicchio have entered a partnership with Douglass Community Land Trust to secure permanent affordability of housing on the site.
The project, located at 33-45 P Street NW, will produce approximately 55 new homes, consisting of townhomes and multifamily rental apartments for families at various levels of affordability, according to the mayor’s office.
“We know that this historic site is good hands with the Douglass Community Land Trust and that they will oversee a project that meets the vision of the community and empowers residents for years to come,” Bowser said. “We are proud to be working with a community organization that is helping to preserve our city’s history and culture by ensuring families of all backgrounds and income levels have a future in Washington, D.C.”
Douglass CLT’s mission includes preventing displacement of current and future residents, creating community-held assets, and building assets for individuals and families. Through this new project, the District is piloting the services offered by Douglass CLT, which include homebuyer education, workforce development, and financial assistance programs to prevent the displacement of current and future District residents while building assets for District individuals and families.
The team, known as the Lebanon Village at Langston-Slater team, also includes Volunteers of America, Habitat for Humanity, Mt. Lebanon CDC, R. McGhee & Associates, according to the mayor’s office.
“Mayor Bowser has tasked her team to do everything that we can to give more residents a fair shot at pathways to the middle class,” Falcicchio said. “I am excited that this development, particularly through our pilot with Douglass CLT, has equity at its core so that we are meeting that task and moving us closer to our goal of 36,000 new homes, 12,000 of them affordable, by 2025.”
The site was formerly two elementary schools. Slater Elementary School is a purpose public schools building that was constructed in 1891 for African American students. Built when public education was segregated by race, it forms part of a complex of Black schools along First Street, NW between L and P Streets.
The John Mercer Langston Elementary School was built in 1902 to handle the overflow of students from the adjoining Slater School. The historical designation of both Langston and Slater Schools and the site’s proximity to North Capitol Street, makes the project a prime destination within the Truxton Circle neighborhood.