[Press Alert] Ward One CM Brianne Nadeau “Talks Down” to Black Neighbors; Experts Show Social Housing Only Option for True Affordability

Washington, D.C. — In 2021, Ward One Councilmember Brianne Nadeau moved an “11th hour” change to the DC Comprehensive Plan that would provide for new luxury high-density construction on the 2-acres of public land at 1617 U Street.

Nadeau’s controversial map change had no public hearings, that is until January 2024, after an application was put forward by the Office of Planning to ask the DC Zoning Commission to implement her changes on the DC Zone Map.

If approved, new downtown sized construction (10+ stories) would be allowed “by-right” along this busy yet narrow section of the U Street corridor.  New construction would also lead to the temporary (perhaps permanent) displacement of the existing homes of the 3D police station and Engine 9 fire station.

The area around 1617 U Street (southern part of Adams Morgan, northern part of Dupont Circle) has seen tremendous displacement of our Black neighbors over the past ten years, and only about 100 Black residents remain in the affected census tract around the site.

One of the area’s remaining Black residents, Mr. Gregory Adams, organized with some of his neighbors and formed a party in opposition to the zoning changes now under review, Black Neighbors of 1617 U Street:

“As the last black household on my block in a neighborhood of ever decreasing black households, it is imperative … [the city] … not enact policies that will worsen this problem.” — Gregory Adams

During the zoning hearings it became apparent that neither the Office or Planning nor CM Brianne Nadeau paid much mind to the existing Black Neighbors around 1617 U Street and their concerns about being the last families to be displaced by the proposed luxury upzoning.

DC Black Neighbors’ Experts Show Social Housing Only Real Option for True Affordability; Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) Is Out Of Reach for Most Black Residents

Mr. Adams and the Black Neighbors party formally put forward experts that have clearly shown that DC’s affordable housing (Inclusionary Zoning) is simply unaffordable for most Black DC residents due to the immense racial income gaps in the city (See expert testimony — here, here, here).

Experts point to an alternative to the failure that is Inclusionary Zoning (IZ), and that is the Green New Deal for Housing in DC, aka Social Housing, especially on Public Land.

Ward One Councilmember Brianne Nadeau Protested About 1617 U Street Luxury Upzoning

At a recent local Advisory Neighborhood Commission Meeting, Ward One residents chanted: “What do we want? — Social Housing; Where do we want it? 17th and U Streets.”