NPCDC’s Mission, History and Accomplishments
The Non-Profit Community Development Corporation of Washington, DC Inc. (NPCDC) was founded in 1994. NPCDC is a 501 (c) (3) with the mission of initiating, sponsoring, and operating housing and economic development projects that create economic stability and upward mobility for low-income families in metropolitan Washington, DC. Since 2000, NPCDC has developed 381 units of affordable rental housing in the District’s Ward 8. NPCDC also completed the new construction of a 56-unit mixed-income condominium property in Columbia Heights, which includes 20,000 square feet of commercial space. The total development cost for these facilities is $77 million.
NPCDC was founded with the intent of providing a range of public goods and services that turn development projects into enhanced communities. NPCDC’s first project was an outdoor community ice skating rink, located first in Georgetown in Washington, DC and then in Gaithersburg, MD. In 1999, NPCDC moved forward into affordable housing development with the redevelopment of Douglass Gardens in Southeast Washington’s Congress Heights.
Abandoned ten years and plagued by criminal activity, the property had $8 million in liens before NPCDC gained control. NPCDC gained site control at the end of 1999, and, working with eight District agencies, reduced the liens and secured renovation financing. NPCDC renamed the property Douglas Knoll Apartments, began construction in 2001, and moved in tenants by year-end. By the end of 2001, NPCDC had completed $25 million in rehabilitation and renovation on time and within budget.
A more recent NPCDC venture was the 2007 acquisition and renovation of Langston Lane Apartments, a 118-unit, 100% Section 8 property in Southeast DC. NPCDC is the sole owner of the general partner of the limited partnership which purchased Langston Lane Apartments in September 2007. NPCDC secured tax credit equity in December 2007, and by early 2009, had completed an $18 million tenant-in-place total rehabilitation of the property. By sponsoring and overseeing an on-site resident services program, NPCDC continues to engage in community- strengthening efforts at Langston Lane Apartments. The resident services coordinator secures community partnerships and helps find services ranging from housekeeping and parental courses to domestic violence intervention and abuse services for residents, and much more.
Over the past eleven years, the 381 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) units created by NPCDC have been developed in some of the most difficult to develop areas of Washington, DC. In addition to building and promoting healthy communities with affordable housing communities in Southeast Washington, DC, NPCDC has developed the Heights of Columbia, a mixed-income, mixed-use building that has helped spur community redevelopment in a segment of 14th Street, N.W. that lies on the outskirts of the newly renovated business district of Columbia Heights and is surrounded by more than 1,000 units of Section 8 housing.
