A half-dozen struggling D.C. neighborhoods will receive $95 million in tax revenue-backed bonds to support retail and parking projects that officials hope will accelerate revitalization, District officials announced Tuesday.
The plan calls for the establishment of tax-financed districts along six corridors: Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue Southeast, H Street Northeast, 7th Street and Georgia Avenue Northwest, Petworth, Minnesota-Benning, and Pennsylvania Avenue Southeast.
The District will make $95 million in bonds available on a per-project basis, money that must be repaid with the property and sales tax revenues generated by each project.
Called tax increment financing, or TIF, the approach is an innovative way to spur development in neighborhood corridors, Mayor Adrian Fenty said during a news conference at the Looking Glass Lounge, a restaurant and bar on Georgia Avenue just south of the Petworth Metro station.
Providing start-up capital for retail and other neighborhood-based amenities, including parking garages, will “anchor, stabilize and catalyze development,” he said.
The District has used the TIF mechanism before, mainly for major projects downtown.
Gallery Place, the International Spy Museum and the DC-USA Target development in Columbia Heights all benefited from an infusion of publicly backed capital.
The expansion of the program is expected to accelerate the revitalization of long-troubled neighborhoods where “there’s already the seeds of development happening,” Fenty said, and where “we are going to recognize payback quickly.”
Petworth, for example, is awash in residential projects, but amenities such as pharmacies and restaurants are lagging.
“We started this business with no public subsidy,” said Rob Lakritz, a Petworth resident and co-owner of the Looking Glass Lounge.
“We risked our own capital. We had a vision for Georgia Avenue, and I think this is the second wave.”
Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham, who represents Georgia Avenue south of Petworth, said the creation of a TIF district honors a promise made to corridor residents long ago.
How much for each corridor?
– Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. and South Capitol St. SE: $10M
– H St. NE: $25M
– 7th St. and Georgia Ave. NW: $25M
– Georgia Ave.–Petworth: $10M
– Minnesota–Benning: $15M
– Pennsylvania Ave. SE: $10M
