Brightwood is not a brand-name Washington neighborhood like Georgetown or Capitol Hill. Nor is it a notorious kill zone like Trinidad or Congress Heights.
Brightwood is where Washington’s middle class resides. The leafy neighborhood arrayed along 14th Street and Georgia Avenue north of Military Road has broad avenues and small streets lined with old growth pin oak trees, neatly groomed row homes, and small apartment buildings.
If you want to understand Mayor Adrian Fenty’s pervasive political appeal, check out this scene in Brightwood.
One of those buildings — at 6425 14th St. NW — has been festering for two decades. It was known for rat infestations and code violations and drug dealers squatting in the boarded-up brick structure. It rankled Fenty back when he represented Brightwood as Ward 4 council member.
And so Fenty was particularly proud to stand before the cameras and a small crowd of construction workers Friday afternoon in a “groundbreaking ceremony” for the apartment’s reconstruction. Current Councilwoman Muriel Bowser, his ally and benefactor, stood by his side.
“Muriel and I promised the Brightwood community we would get this apartment back in shape,” he said. He had draped his suit jacket on the podium. His shaved head glistened in the sun. “It’s been the number one issue for you for 20 years. We will make sure it’s returned to quality apartments.”
Fenty, a native Washingtonian, turned the microphone over to Bowser, also born in D.C. Her father watched from the crowd. Bowser congratulated Scottie Irving, chief executive officer of Blue Skye Development, the firm running the renovation. Irving grew up in D.C. He hires Washingtonians from Cardozo and Roosevelt and Coolidge High. He went to Cardozo. His grandfather gave him a small property, which he refurbished and used to start his development firm. He now partners with the bigs, such as Chris Donatelli.
I learned at least three important aspects of political and economic life in the nation’s capital.
First, Fenty is continuing to create a political and financial class of native Washingtonians.
Second, he’s building his political base by building stuff in the communities. Far from downtown, where construction cranes are all but extinct thanks to the recession, Fenty and his development team are hard at work. Down at the Wilson Building, council members and the media might grit their teeth at his autocratic and dismissive ways; but out here where the voters live, Fenty is the constituent service mayor, fixing fields and building apartments.
Third, development and construction in parts of the capital continue unaffected by the credit crisis and the recession. “Strictly private projects are moving much slower,” development boss Neil Albert told me. “With projects like this, we are able to leverage local government subsidies and make things happen.”
In this case, Fenty directed his housing department to fork over $3 million to buy the building. That helped Irving at Blue Skye get financing to develop the property into market-rate and affordable apartments.
For all these reasons, Fenty owns Brightwood.
