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Council questions DMPED housing, preservation and neighborhood funding in FY2026 plan
Summary
Council members pressed the Deputy Mayor on how the FY2026 budget would deliver housing across the city — covering preservation, production in high-need neighborhoods, St. Elizabeth's, Fletcher Johnson, East Capital Gateway and downtown conversion incentives.
Council members used the Committee's FY2026 oversight hearing to press the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development about how the mayor's proposed budget supports housing production and preservation across the District.
Why it matters: The testimony addressed a recurring policy tension — using limited capital resources to produce new affordable units while preserving aging private housing stock — and asked how DMPED's portfolio supports equity and ward-level outcomes.
Questions from the committee Chair Kenya McDuffie and Councilmembers asked DMPED officials to describe deployments outside downtown and how the administration is prioritizing projects in high-need areas. Councilmembers requested numbers and milestones for the Housing in Downtown incentive (housing-in-downtown), asked why the FY27 budget reduced the housing-in-downtown allocation from earlier projections, and requested a list of projects expected to use the program.
DMPED response and status updates Deputy Mayor Nina Albert said the Housing in Downtown program has made seven reservations that together account for about 1,400 housing units in downtown conversions. She said program demand and market softness informed a decision to set a $5 million FY27 allocation rather than a larger amount forecast earlier in the financial plan.
On housing across the city, Albert and DMPED staff said the agency continues to advance large, citywide projects intended to add housing without displacing existing residents, including proposals at the RFK campus (an estimated 4,000–6,000 units suggested as a planning-era estimate), St. Elizabeth's East Campus and other DMPED-sponsored sites in Wards 5, 7 and 8. Director Frenzelbein described ongoing project milestones at Fletcher Johnson and said the UHS pad site would be development-ready by the end of the year, and that design work and phase-one construction were expected to begin after LDAs are negotiated.
St. Elizabeth's and neighborhood infrastructure Albert and Director Frenzelbein told the committee that DMPED expects to complete key infrastructure work at St. Elizabeth's with a smaller FY26 capital ask than in prior years, citing scope adjustments and cost-savings (for example, removing a DC Water improvement from the current scope). Councilmember Robert White asked DMPED to provide a ward-level unit count and an update on the number of affordable units anticipated at St. Elizabeth's; DMPED agreed to provide updated unit totals and subsidy plans via follow-up.
East Capital Gateway and grocery access Councilmembers reiterated that East Capital Gateway remains a top priority and noted a proposed FY26 allocation of $15 million (combined with prior-year funds for a $30 million total reserve) to conclude an eminent-domain action if necessary and to advance infrastructure and investor outreach to secure a grocer. DMPED said part of those funds would be available, subject to court outcomes, to attract a grocery operator through infrastructure or gap funding.
Housing preservation and small landlords Council members raised preservation concerns: the city's housing stock is older, and small housing providers face high repair costs. Albert said the administration would focus on market stabilization and noted the mayor's proposed $100 million restoration to the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF) as a lever that could be used for preservation and production; DMPED and DHCD will coordinate on subsidy use and a forthcoming Qualified Allocation Plan that will set HPTF priorities.
Ending DMPED committed to provide the committee with (1) updated unit counts and affordability projections for St. Elizabeth's; (2) a list of projects and reservations tied to the Housing in Downtown incentive; and (3) follow-up detail on East Capital Gateway eminent-domain timing and the use of the $15 million FY26 allocation. Council members said they expect further hearings, and some requested a stronger emphasis on preservation programs that support aging rental buildings and small landlords.
