The District of Columbia has long been a leader in addressing our nation’s housing challenges. In 2019, Mayor Bowser set an ambitious goal: to produce 36,000 new housing units, including 12,000 affordable units, by 2025. While we’ve reached the goal of 36,000 new units, we still lag in delivering the affordable housing we promised, with the city having only completed 84% of the 12,000 affordable units.
This shortfall isn’t just a statistic — it’s a stark reminder of the urgent work still ahead of us as we strive to make this city accessible and affordable to all its residents.
Reaching these targets was always going to be difficult, even more so when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, upending global markets and destabilizing housing efforts everywhere. But instead of abandoning our housing goals during this time of crisis, we leaned in, showing what true leadership and unity could accomplish. Today, Washington, D.C., is at the forefront of housing production in the region, providing more units of both market-rate and affordable housing than any jurisdiction of its size.
Still, challenges arising from the pandemic are threatening our progress in affordable housing. Development and operating costs, inflation, and interest rates have all increased. The primary local funding source to build new projects has been redirected for now. Rental revenue has fallen to historic lows and the long-term financial health of housing developers and operators is becoming increasingly precarious. Without action, we could see a wave of defaults and a loss of affordability covenants that could destabilize the very progress in affordable housing that we’ve worked so hard to achieve.
I’ve spent time talking to our regional partners, and the realities facing D.C. are in some ways unique due in part to long-term racial disparities in wealth, income, education, and employment. The lack of significant investments in deeply affordable housing — through instruments like the Housing Production Trust Fund — has exacerbated the displacement of longtime residents who have called D.C. home for generations and amplified the need for emergency rental assistance. This is why focusing on just one piece of the crisis is insufficient. We must also ensure that we work with the court system, find the money to cover rent arrears for providers without evicting tenants who are in need, ensure that we are processing emergency assistance expeditiously, and double down on long-term efforts to end the cycle of poverty and build more affordable housing.
The confluence of all these challenges and the work ahead demands an immediate, broad, and coordinated response. That’s why I’m issuing an urgent call to action to my colleagues on the D.C. Council, Mayor Bowser, nonprofit housing organizations, market-rate housing developers, tenants, legal service providers, the courts, and the lending community to come together and produce consensus solutions by year’s end.
I know that we can succeed. We have the tools, knowledge, and collective will to address this crisis. But it will require unprecedented cooperation, strategic thinking, and a shared commitment to achieving the goals we’ve set for our city. The future of D.C. depends on it.
Kenyan R. McDuffie is an at-large member and chair pro tempore of the D.C. Council.