Ward 1 Candidate — Miguel Deramo
Candidate info:
miguel@miguelward1.com www.miguelward1.com 202-570-4708
| Question 1 — If elected, I commit to supporting a future redevelopment of the publicly owned site at 1617 U Street NW that: Maintains uninterrupted emergency services by phasing redevelopment to avoid displacement or disruption of the existing first responders. | Question 2 — If elected, I commit to supporting a future redevelopment of the publicly owned site at 1617 U Street NW that: Ensures the land and air rights remain under municipal control and includes a social housing pilot project that delivers housing for a mix of income levels including deeply affordable housing and family-sized units. |
| Miguel: Yes | Miguel: See below |
| ANC 1B, which is the Commission I chair, passed at least one resolution supporting a commitment to maintain MPD and FEMS on site and to develop transition plans with these agencies about their future footprint on the redeveloped site. Neither agency is yet conducting detailed transition planning, seeing as the DC government has not even released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the site, but I will look to the agencies to determine how and when they transition out of the old facility and into the new. I will ensure that the RFP includes maintaining both MPD and FEMS at the 1617 U Street site. In conversations with representatives from both MPD and FEMS, both agencies have expressed that their presence on the U Street corridor is important, and FEMS is particularly excited about building more and more-modern facilities in the District. | “Housing is a key pillar in my campaign for Ward 1 Councilmember, which is why I was intentional about appointing an affordable housing expert as my campaign chair. I also appointed as my first housing advisor someone who has been deeply involved in publicly financed mixed-income housing (i.e., social housing) in Montgomery County, and specifically asked them to advise me as to how DC can adapt the MoCo model and create social housing here. As the chair of ANC 1B, I have supported maximizing the potential for housing development and affordability on public land, including at 1617 U Street. I have also supported resolutions calling for “”family-sized”” (by which we mean multiple-bedroom) units to accommodate larger families. I have been a supporter of projects like the Carl F. West Estates, which include “”grandfamily”” apartments specifically designed for senior citizens who take care of grandchildren (which, incidentally, is the way I was raised). That project required an enormous effort to secure waivers from traditional housing standards, and I am incredibly proud that the District achieved it. Since we do not have an agreed-upon, official definition of “social housing” in the District, it is important to focus on accomplishing the goals often discussed in conversations about this type of housing, which are: (1) having the DC government be part of the property ownership structure (land, or property and land) to have a say in setting up housing affordability and the property’s future; (2) long-term affordability and the option to preserve affordability; and (3) a mix of units that are affordable for a range of income levels (from very low-income households to market-rate tenants) that would enable the cross-subsidization of rents. Although the DC government has not released the RFP for this site yet, I believe that these elements can be accomplished through the RFP process. There are several points to keep in mind: – I am running to become a member of the DC Council, which does not have authority over the selection of developers to create housing on the site, as the executive branch, through the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, will lead these processes. This system works as intended, to prevent individual Councilmembers from exercising outsized influence over specific development proposals, a dynamic that could skew decisions based on political relationships rather than public benefit and objective values. – My campaign’s housing platform calls on the DC government to take a more active role in financing and developing various forms of social housing, which may include publicly financed mixed-income housing that follows Montgomery County’s approach, or housing acquired through the District Opportunity to Purchase Act (DOPA) to preserve its affordability and operate it as publicly owned mixed-income housing. – As a Commissioner, I am well aware that when we draw out the development of affordable housing, including proposed development on public property, over years of procedural hurdles, we not only prevent families from accessing affordable homes that are needed urgently, we also significantly increase the cost of building housing on these sites. Such delays can have unintended consequences, such as scaling down the number of affordable homes created. Housing is a human right, but we cannot guarantee access to housing that does not exist; that is why we need to significantly increase the supply of housing by making it easier, faster, and cheaper to build all types of housing, including both subsidized affordable housing and market-rate housing. – It is important to acknowledge that developing affordable housing can be expensive, especially amid the current financial landscape (high interest rates and rising costs due to inflation and tariffs). Even affordable housing that is subsidized (either through the Housing Production Trust Fund that provides gap financing and/or a low-cost ground lease) or built and operated by the DC government must be financially feasible. That is because the DC government is unable to fully fund every affordable housing project (including social housing), due to its limited pool of resources and the high cost of building and operating housing, particularly affordable homes. These factors often create limitations on both the number of units and affordability levels in any proposed affordable housing development, and that does not necessitate opposition to such proposals.” |