WJLA, March 19th, 2019: Business owners affected by gentrification as new study shows D.C. has highest intensity
WASHINGTON (ABC7) — Business owners like Michael Sterling are noticing changes in the District.
“I’ve seen a place where there was no police presence at all to now, right before Busboys opened, we have ambassadors,” Sterling said.
In a new study conducted by NCRC, researchers found that D.C. had the highest “intensity” of gentrification.
“When you invest in a place without investing in the people, what happens is you’re displacing people,” Jesse Van Tol said.
Van Tol is the CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC).
“Over 20,000 African American residents left the city, as a result of gentrification,” Van Tol said. “It means we’re losing that cultural fabric of that neighborhood, it means we’re losing that legacy.”
As gentrification continues throughout D.C., several business owners in Southeast are facing challenges when it comes to dealing with their landlords.
“They gave me a 200 percent mark up on my rent,” Dionne Bussey-Reeder said.
Bussey-Reeder is the owner of Cheers at the Big Chair.
Her restaurant is closing on Friday, after failed negotiations with her landlord.
“Do I think it has something to do with gentrification? Definitely. You move from gentrifying people out of their homes to now businesses,” Bussey-Reeder said.
Close by at Caribeean Citations, Sterling is facing a similar dilemma.
He says he has been on a month to month agreement with his landlord for four years, which causes uncertainty for the future of his business.
“(If) they give me a 30-day notice, I’m out,” Sterling said.
Van Tol says there a few potential solutions that the city should consider.
“There just needs to be a much larger supply of affordable housing, inclusionary zoning, which D.C. has,” he said.
