ENGROSSED ORIGINAL 1 A BILL 1 2 24-774 3 4 IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 5 6 _______________________ 7 8 9 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 18 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 2 (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 3 (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 4 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 5 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 6 (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 7 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