D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser wants to offer tax breaks to incentivize construction of affordable housing in some of the District’s wealthiest neighborhoods as part of her broader effort to more evenly distribute modestly priced homes throughout the city.
Bowser included the new program, which would offer $4 million annually in real estate tax abatements for projects in “high-need areas,” in legislation supporting her just-released 2021 budget proposal. Those include Capitol Hill, Rock Creek East, Rock Creek West and Upper Northeast planning areas, the same places where she previously pledged to build the most new affordable housing in the city through 2025.
Many of those neighborhoods — including wealthy enclaves such as Chevy Chase, Foxhall Crescents and Palisades — have long been walled off from new construction through a mix of zoning policies and neighborhood opposition. Bowser launched an explicit call to break down those barriers last year, noting that D.C.’s poorest wards east of the Anacostia River have seen the vast majority of new affordable housing construction over the years.