Next City, February 1, 2024, They Bought An Apartment Building In D.C. Now They’re Turning It Into An Affordable Housing Co-op
One project in DC is poised to defy these odds, thanks to robust tenant organizing and a critical mass of mostly small-dollar donations. But a hefty loan to repay, along with mounting interest, could cut their ambitions short.
Organizers are excited about Northwest DC’s Baldwin House, planned as both an affordable housing cooperative and a mutual aid hub. The tenant association reached a compromise allowing some residents to stay, assigning their TOPA rights to a group that will convert their building into a limited equity cooperative intended to remain permanently affordable. As part of the agreement, other tenants will take buyouts from the newly formed nonprofit and move out. The remaining tenants — one long-time resident and another who moved into the building last summer — will live in the building as “tenant stewards,” along with new tenants after an application is made public.
