D.C. Housing Finance Agency Provides $21.6M Financing for Affordable Housing Community

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency (DCHFA) has provided $21.6 million in bonds for the acquisition and construction for The Beacon Center, an affordable housing complex in Washington, D.C. The project is a redevelopment of the historic Emory United Methodist church now standing at 6100 Georgia Ave. N.W. in D.C.’s Brightwood neighborhood. The financing comprises $14.3 million in short-term bonds and $7.3 million long-term. The $42.5 million development will include sanctuary space for Emory United Methodist and 99 units of affordable housing reserved for renters earning 60 percent or less of the area median income (AMI). In addition to the DCHFA issued bonds, The Beacon Center will be financed by a combination of $16 million of equity raised through the syndication of low income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) by Red Stone Equity Partners, a $17.2 million loan from the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development’s Housing Production Trust Fund and $900,000 of Neighborhood Investment Funds administered by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. The District’s Local Rent Supplement Program will be used to provide rental assistance for eight permanent supportive housing units within The Beacon Center reserved for formerly homeless individuals earning less than 30 percent AMI. The building will contain a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. The Beacon Center will also feature office and program space, a gymnasium, 87 parking spaces and approximately 3,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The project is being developed as a partnership between The Community Builders Inc. and Emory Beacon of Light, a nonprofit affiliate of Emory United Methodist Church that specializes in community development.