District Of Columbia 2023 2023-2024 Regular Session

District Of Columbia Council Bill B25-0774 Engrossed / Bill

Filed 04/02/2024

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A BILL 1 
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24-774 3 
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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 5 
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To authorize the Department of Housing and Community Development, on a temporary basis, 10 
to make a grant to the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, to implement 11 
measures to provide financial relief and other assistance to the current owners of 12 
condominium units at the River East at Grandview Condominiums (“Property”), 13 
including the authority to forgive loans originating from the Housing Production Trust 14 
Fund and the Home Purchase Assistance Program associated with the purchase of 15 
condominium units at the Property and to provide the condominium unit owners with 16 
assistance to secure permanent housing solutions. 17 
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act may 19 
be cited as the “Relief for River East at Grandview Condominium Owners Temporary Act of 20 
2024”. 21 
 TITLE I. RELIEF FOR RIVER EAST AT GRANDVIEW CONDOMINIUM OWNERS. 22 
 Sec. 1012. Definitions. 23 
For the purposes of this act, the term:  24 
(a) “CA” means the River East at Grandview Condominium Association.  25 
(b) “DHCD” means the District of Columbia Department of Housing and Community 26 
Development. 27 
 (c) “HPAP” means Home Purchase Assistance Program. 28 
(d) “IZ” means inclusionary zoning. 29    	ENGROSSED ORIGINAL 
 
 
 
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(e) “NACA” means The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America. 30 
(f) “OTR” means Office of Tax and Revenue.  31 
 (g) "Property” means the River East at Grandview Condominiums located at 1262 Talbert Street, 32 
S.E., Washington, DC, 20020, known for tax and assessment purposes as Lots 2047 through 2092 in 33 
Square 5807, which may also be known as River East at Grandview, Grandview Estate, Grandview 34 
Estates, Grandview Estates II, Gardenview, River East, RiverEast, River East at Anacostia, River East at 35 
Anacostia Metro Station, River East at Grandview, and Talbert Street. 36 
(h) “Property Owner” means an individual who owns one of the 46 condominium units at the 37 
Property. 38 
 Sec. 1023. DHCD grant authority.  39 
(a) Notwithstanding the Grant Administration Act of 2013, effective December 23, 2013 (D.C. 40 
Law 20-61; D.C. Official Code § 1-328.11 et seq.) or its implementing rules under 1 DMCR § 5000 et. 41 
seq., DHCD is authorized to enter into a grant agreement with NACA to provide financial relief for 42 
Property Owners seeking to obtain permanent housing. 43 
(b) The grant agreement may include that NACA: 44 
 (1) Provide housing counseling services to Property Owners, including assessing 45 
Property Owners’ permanent housing options and working with Property Owners to meet NACA’s 46 
mortgage eligibility criteria; 47 
 (2) Provide recommendations to the Mayor about the financial need for gap financing 48 
based on the assessments of the Property Owners;  49 
(3) Alongside the Mayor, seek relief for Property Owners’ existing mortgages on the 50 
Property;  51    	ENGROSSED ORIGINAL 
 
 
 
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(4) Provide affordable mortgage options to eligible Property Owners;  52 
(5) Waive any requirements against a Property Owner having an existing mortgage; 53 
provided, the existing mortgage is on the Property; and 54 
(6) Not use credit score as the deciding factor for approving a Property Owner’s 55 
mortgage. 56 
Sec. 4103. Additional relief. 57 
(a) Notwithstanding the District of Columbia Sales Tax Act effective March 2, 1962 (87 P.L. 408, 58 
76 Stat. 10, D.C. Official Code § 47-1001 et seq.), or its implementing rules under 9 DCMR § 500 et. 59 
seq., OTR shall: 60 
(1) Not assess or charge any taxes related to a Property Owner’s first purchase of real 61 
property following a Property Owner’s purchase of the Property, including transfer taxes and deed 62 
recordation taxes, so long as the purchase is made by December 31, 2028; and 63 
(2) Forgive all real property taxes, interest, penalties, fees, and other related charges 64 
assessed against the Property Owners at the Property for the tax years beginning October 1, 2023, and 65 
ending September 30, 2025. 66 
(b) Notwithstanding the Housing Production Trust Fund Act of 1989, effective March 10, 2015 67 
(D.C. Law 20-190; D.C. Official Code § 42-2802.02 et. seq.): 68 
(1) The Mayor may:  69 
(A) Waive the requirements of section 3b of the Housing Production Trust Fund 70 
Act of 1989, effective March 10, 2015 (D.C. Law 20-190; D.C. Official Code § 42-2802.02 or its 71 
implementing rules under 10 DCMR § B4100 et. seq.); and 72 
(B) Forgive all outstanding debt secured by a Property Owner pursuant to a 73    	ENGROSSED ORIGINAL 
 
 
 
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Housing Production Trust Fund loan that financed development costs of the Property. 74 
(2) Any forgiveness of debt under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not include any 75 
outstanding indebtedness of River East At Anacostia, LLC, or Stanton View Development, LLC incurred 76 
in connection with the development of the Property. 77 
 (c) Notwithstanding any provisions of the Home Purchase Assistance Fund Act of 1978, effective 78 
September 12, 1978; (D.C. Law 2-103; D.C. Official Code § 45-2601 et seq.), or its implementing rules 79 
under 14 DCMR § 2500 et. seq.:  80 
(1) The Mayor may forgive the balance of any HPAP loan provided to a Property Owner 81 
to support the purchase of a Property condominium unit;  82 
 (2) A Property Owner may be eligible for HPAP assistance of at least $70,000, subject to 83 
available funds through DHCD; and 84 
(3) DHCD may waive the HPAP income requirements if the Property Owner’s income no 85 
longer meets the affordability criteria; provided, the Property Owner would have qualified for HPAP on 86 
the date that DHCD certified the Property Owner to purchase a Property condominium unit. 87 
(d) Any debt or loans forgiven pursuant to subsections (b) and (c) shall not be considered income 88 
for tax purposes in the District. 89 
(e) By May 15, 2024, DHCD shall provide written notice to each Property Owner that includes 90 
whether the Mayor will forgive Housing Production Trust Fund loans and Home Purchase Assistance 91 
Program loans, and, if so, the amount of each loan that will be forgiven and the date by when the loans 92 
will be forgiven. 93 
(f) Notwithstanding the Inclusionary Zoning Implementation Amendment Act of 2006, effective 94 
March 14, 2007 (D.C. Law 16-275; D.C. Official Code § 6-1041.01 et seq.) or its implementing rules 95    	ENGROSSED ORIGINAL 
 
 
 
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under 14 DCMR § 2200 et. seq., Property Owners who meet the criteria for a compliant IZ unit may have 96 
access to an IZ unit set aside for non-lottery sale or rental on a first-come, first-served basis.  97 
(1) Property Owners are exempt from attending the IZ orientation and from completing 98 
the 8-hour homebuyer class as part of the IZ program. 99 
(2) DHCD may waive the IZ income requirements if the Property Owner’s income no 100 
longer meets the affordability criteria; provided, the Property Owner would have qualified for an IZ rental 101 
or for-sale unit on the date that DHCD certified the Property Owner to purchase a Property condominium 102 
unit. 103 
(g) DHCD may update the grant agreement executed between the CA and the District, by and 104 
through DHCD, with an effective date of May 22, 2023, through September 30, 2023, to provide up to 105 
$150,000 to the CA to cover operations and expenses. 106 
(h) The Mayor shall create a program for providing Property Owners who choose to rent or who 107 
do not qualify for homeownership with a rental option. DHCD shall provide written notice to each 108 
Property Owner of the details of a rental option program by May 1, 2024. 109 
(i) The Mayor may allocate $300,000 to covered property owners for moving expenses and, if 110 
allocated, shall distribute the funding in equal amounts among the Property Owners. 111 
Title II. Skyland Grant. 112 
Sec. 201. The Skyland Town Center Omnibus Act of 2014, effective June 21, 2014 (D.C. Law 113 
20-110; D.C. Official Code § 2-1217.35a et seq.), is amended as follows: 114 
(a) Section 203 (D.C. Official Code § 2-1217.35d) is amended by striking the phrase “not to 115 
exceed $40 million to fund the project” and inserting the phrase “not to exceed $25 million to fund the 116 
project” in its place. 117    	ENGROSSED ORIGINAL 
 
 
 
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(b) A new section 203a is added to read as follows: 118 
“Sec. 203a. Grant authorization. 119 
“Notwithstanding the Grant Administration Act of 2013, effective December 24, 2013 (D.C. Law 120 
20-61; D.C. Official Code § 1-328.11 et seq.), the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic 121 
Development may issue a grant in an amount not to exceed $15 million to the Developer for the purpose 122 
of supporting the completion of the project.”. 123 
Sec. 202. Pursuant to section 47-363 of the District of Columbia Official Code, the Mayor 124 
transmitted to the Council a reprogramming request in the amount of $15 million to be transferred from 125 
the Benning Road Transfer Station Modernization project in the Department of Public Works capital 126 
budget to the operating budget of the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic 127 
Development for the purpose of funding a grant to Skyland Holdings, LLC. 128 
(2) The Council approves the $15 million reprogramming request. 129 
TITLE III. FISCAL IMPACT; EFFECTIVE DATE 130 
Sec. 5301. Fiscal impact statement. 131 
The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement of the Budget Director as the fiscal impact 132 
statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, approved 133 
October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a). 134 
Sec. 6302. Effective date. 135 
(a) This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by 136 
the Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30-day period of congressional review 137 
as provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 138    	ENGROSSED ORIGINAL 
 
 
 
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24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)), and publication in the District of 139 
Columbia Register. 140 
 (b) This act shall expire after 225 days of its having effect.  141