The D.C. Council approved a land swap Thursday with a Christian ministry and shelter, which calls for the city to relinquish a high-valued property in return for the provision of homeless services for at least 150 men. The emergency resolution approved during a special legislative session enables the swap of the D.C.-owned Gales School at 65 Massachusetts Ave NW for four tracts in the 3500 block of Georgia Avenue owned by the Central Union Mission.
The District plans to redevelop the Georgia Avenue parcels into a mixed-use apartment complex, including up to 125 units, with 50 units dedicated to permanent, supportive housing. The mission, meanwhile, will leave its existing home at 1350 R St. NW for the Gales School, where it will house roughly 150 homeless men at no cost to the city.
“There are major benefits to the homeless,” Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham, who fought the mission’s original plan to relocate to Georgia Avenue, said of the swap. “There are major benefits to the Central Union Mission. There are major benefits for the neighborhoods in which the Central Union Mission currently impacts. All in all I think this is a very positive transaction.” It’s a costly one as well. The Gales School is valued at $8.93 million while the Georgia Avenue parcels are assessed at less than $4 million. The District also has agreed to pay the mission $7 million to undertake much-needed Gales School renovations. D.C.’s net loss for the swap: Roughly $12 million.
“This is a land deal,” said at-large Councilman Phil Mendelson, the lone vote against the transfer. “This is not about helping the homeless.”
Providing homeless services at Gales would have cost the D.C. government $59 million over 40 years, according to an economic analysis produced by Mayor Adrian Fenty’s administration. David Treadwell, the mission’s executive director, said the organization “would like to believe we’re bringing a lot to the table in terms of operational savings.”
“We are absolutely committed to providing services to anyone who needs help,” Treadwell said.
The council vote, originally planned for Tuesday, was delayed by a single sentence in Fenty’s economic analysis noting the administration’s intention to “close Franklin School Shelter by October 1, 2008.”
That language was stripped from the economic analysis report approved Thursday, ensuring the downtown Franklin shelter will remain open for now.
“That’s a discussion for another day,” at-large Councilwoman Carol Schwartz said of the shelter debate.
