D.C. residents face competing priorities as historic preservation bill awaits congressional review

Developers and property owners would face substantially steeper penalties for destroying or demolishing historic buildings in D.C. if a law (A25-0594) enacted in October survives congressional review.

The pending law, introduced by Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, is part of the district’s long-standing efforts to preserve the historic character of its neighborhoods. Preservation advocates argue that maintaining historic structures offers multiple benefits, such as highlighting the city’s legacy and culture, promoting tourism, and protecting architectural history.

However, others contend that these initiatives can disadvantage some long-time residents by contributing to the rise in property value and taxes that later results in the pricing out of those residents.

“There’s tension every day, right now as we talk. It’s a complicated situation,” said John Muller, a local historian, tour guide, D.C. Public Library associate, and author of Frederick Douglass in Washington D.C.: The Lion of Anacostia.

The Council unanimously approved A25-0594 on Oct. 1, and Mayor Muriel Bowser signed it Oct. 24. It is now before the House and Senate for a 30-day review period.

The bill, the Protecting Historic Homes Amendment Act, would create higher fines for significant violations of the Historic Landmark and Historic District Protection Act of 1978. The measure would require fines assessed by the Historic Preservation Board to vary by degree of severity of the damage, up to $100,000 per violation, according to Allen.

Allen introduced the bill in November 2023 following the near demolition of a historic home in his ward, on Capitol Hill. At that time, Allen said the district’s existing fine structure was not deterring construction companies, noting that few contractors were required to pay more than even $3,000 for violations that were severe and that fines were the same for a small violation, such as repointing, as it was for near-full scale demolition.

However, while the bill aims to help protect D.C.’s historic and cultural legacy, it comes amid existing tensions around gentrification, displacement, and rising home prices.

According to Muller, discussions about historic preservation in D.C. neighborhoods are often oversimplified.

“In the 50s and 60s, Georgetown was kind of a low-rent neighborhood. So, the city has developed – let’s say eastward – and now, the priority is to deliver resources such as new libraries, school buildings, new government [resources]. There’s been a greater investment in public services in these neighborhoods,” Muller said.

Muller added that as public services improve, the demand for higher-income residents who can afford these new, revamped resources increases, driving up housing prices and attracting more expensive retailers.

This results in the displacement, or “pricing out,” of low-income residents who, in many cases, have lived in these neighborhoods for generations.

A study published by the D.C. Policy Center analyzed the changes in median income in the Washington region from 1980 to 2017. The study found that, “between 2000 and 2017, the most notable change in the maps is that, as most of D.C. between Rock Creek and the Anacostia gentrified, the region’s poorest neighborhoods almost all became concentrated east of the Anacostia River.”

According to Redfin, the median sale price of a home in Anacostia was $485,000 in October, up 8.5% from 2023, while in contrast, neighborhoods further southeast like Congress Heights saw a 4.0% decrease in home prices compared to 2023.

Muller said Congress Heights is one example of a residential area that has seen less attention to historical community relics, despite sharing a rich history with Anacostia and Georgetown further northwest.

But he emphasized that friction exists between longtime residents with differing needs.

 “Some older residents say, ‘We want to have new residents, because then we can get a grocery store that we can walk to, and there’s greater attention on the neighborhood.’ Then there’s other people who say, ‘Well, that’s not good for me because it’s driving up our property taxes,’” he said.

With increase in debates around housing prices and rising property taxes, there have been greater efforts to address the growing disparities in communities targeted for historical preservation.

Scott Texeira is a partner with Hartman-Cox Architects whose work mainly focuses on designing and preserving cultural, academic, and civic buildings in D.C.’s monumental core.

“Community involvement, community participation, is an incredibly important part of the process. You know that these buildings are forever a part of their community, and so the decisions that we make have lasting implications. They impact the neighboring community the most, you know,” Texeira said.

“So we manage that by trying to involve the community early on. We do that by attending or presenting at the neighborhood commission meetings – ANC meetings,” Texeira said.

D.C.’s Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, or ANCs, are nonpartisan, neighborhood bodies made up of locally elected representatives. Each commission regularly holds meetings that are open to the public during which residents can express their concerns, air their grievances, or highlight important issues before officials.

According to the D.C. government’s website, “The ANCs’ main job is to be their neighborhood’s official voice in advising the District government (and Federal agencies) on matters that affect their neighborhoods. Although they are not required to follow the ANCs’ advice, many District agencies are required to give the ANCs’ recommendations ‘great weight.’”

“We oftentimes schedule information sessions and so forth, or open houses to try to get opportunities for members of the community to come and talk about their concerns,” Texeira said.

Doing so allows his firm to interact with the local residential community, conducting outreach and communicating during the design process, Texeira said.

Among the D.C. buildings that needs attention is the Grant Building, which was constructed in 1912 as a residential portion of the U.S. Soldiers Home in the Park View neighborhood of Northwest. The building has been abandoned since 1998 and is listed on the D.C. Preservation League’s website as one of the city’s most endangered places.

Christian Malarsie, a D.C. resident of five years and a relative newcomer to Park View, lives within three blocks of the Grant Building.

He said he is worried about what might come from a renovation project targeting the building, adding, “I would be concerned if whatever development or project would displace people, or push people out, or make the area unlivable. I’m not passionate about what they do with it; I would just prefer they not harm people in the process.”

When asked whether he was open to attending an ANC meeting around the Grant Building’s preservation, Malarsie said that he wasn’t sure whether he would make much of an impact by attending. He had yet to hear any announcements about his advisory neighborhood commission and was not aware until then that it was a public forum that he and his fellow neighbors were welcome to attend.

Another property of concern is 1220 Maple View Place SE.

Muller said the L’Enfant Trust is working on that property, which has been vacant for about 50 years. He said the grand, wooden structure sits in Anacostia’s residential core, visibly abandoned and boarded up.

Originally established in 1978, the L’Enfant Trust is a nonprofit organization that aims to play a critical role in D.C.’s development and historic preservation initiatives throughout its residential neighborhoods.

With an influx in government funding and federal grants from the D.C. government over the past seven years, Muller said the area surrounding the mansion has seen millions of dollars of investments. These include improvements to nearby commercial thoroughfares and new local businesses like Busboys and Poets.

 “Now, several of these vacant properties have been reclaimed, or people have bought them up and fixed them up, et cetera,” Muller said, adding that 1220 Maple View is soon to join that list.

When it comes to the threat of D.C. natives being priced out of their own neighborhoods, residents face the price gouging issue with a variety of approaches and attitudes. Muller points to the approach of a resident he refers to as Mr. Sampson as an example of this variety in approaches.

“Because Anacostia is a historically black neighborhood, there are black professionals [like Mr. Sampson] that have said, ‘I don’t want to move to Capitol Hill, or NoMa Gallaudet, or Penn Quarter,’ or wherever. [Mr. Sampson] was very deliberate and wanted to live in the historic black community,” Muller said. “So, you know, there are some of those dynamics.”