Wasington Post Express Article

From Renters to Owners by Rebecca Kern

A District law helped tenants at the Norwood take charge of their homes

(The Norwood Cooperative’s Silvia Salazar, second from right, sits among young residents, from left, Edwin Marcelo, Nizar Ghoumari, Alex Lopez and Anai Marcelo.) 

Silvia Salazar didn’t expect tenant organizing to change her life. She just wanted to rid her decaying apartment complex of bedbugs, black mold and rats. The 36-year-old ended up empowering her neighbors to advocate for themselves and, ultimately, become proud owners of their own building.

For years, Salazar’s calls and letters to the management company of her 1930s-era Logan Circle building went unanswered. In October 2005, she decided to take action. She met with a handful of renters in the laundry room to discuss their home’s flaws.

Over the next six years, the group formed a tenant association and waged a legal battle to purchase their seven-story, 84-unit building, now the Norwood Cooperative (1417 N St. NW). Salazar and her neighbors were able to buy their homes because of D.C.’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, or TOPA.

The hardest part of the TOPA process, says Salazar, now co-president of Norwood’s cooperative board, was persuading the tenants to organize. Even communication was a hurdle in a building whose residents speak English, Spanish, a native Guatemalan dialect and Arabic.

By purchasing the building in July 2011, she says, Norwood helped preserve affordable housing in a neighborhood where luxury apartments are becoming the norm.

“When a building goes up for sale in D.C., there’s a risk and an opportunity,” says Farah Fossé of the Latino Economic Development Center, who helps tenants through the TOPA process. “If tenants do nothing, the new owner could try to get rid of affordability.”

Read the full article here.

Celebrating "A Decade of Progress" of Affordable Housing in DC

We offer much deserved thanks to the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing & Economic Development (CNHED) for your tireless efforts to advocate for the preservation of affordable housing in the District of Columbia.  Thanks in great part to your advocacy efforts, buildings like the Norwood have the opportunity to organize and secure funding to purchase and preserve their buildings as affordable housing.  The diverse working families at the Norwood, who work in the service industry and young working professionals, now have a safe place to live without having to worry about the increasing cost of housing.

Since we purchased our building in July 2011, we have worked towards addressing longstanding maintenance issues and repairs. We are currently working towards our goal to fully rehabilitate the building and create an affordable on site childcare center by working with architects on identifying areas of need in our building.  Our goal is to secure $4 million in financing to cover the cost of rehab.

We hope that the "Decade of Progress" report and video help raise awareness about how tenants living in DC rent controlled buildings have the opportunity to organize and purchase their homes as affordable housing.  If we are good enough to work in DC, then we are good enough to live here!

Won't you be our neighbor?

Apartments Available

Since the tenants jointed together to buy the Norwood Apartments last Summer, the Cooperative has slowly been going through a transformation. Now that we're in control, we have been able to devote more resources to critical maintenance issues, and we're making investments to improve the health and safety of the building.

Dealing with years of neglect has slowed down our ability to repair and turnaround new apartments. But thankfully we've got apartments ready to lease now, and we're looking for residents who would appreciate the affordable community we're building at the 1417 N Street NW Cooperative (formerly "The Norwood").

While we are a Cooperative, we are still in a transitional period. This means that new residents must sign a lease and pay a security deposit. The leases will be honored for the entire term (1 year) and then continue month-to-month. When the building converts to cooperative residents will have the option to join the cooperative, or make arrangements to move. We are planning on a full renovation within the next 1-2 years, so get in on the ground floor!

The studio units range from $900-$1,100. If you or a friend are interested, please contact our manager Ari Myers at 202-588-0026.

Radio Interview: Kid's perspective on housing & tenant organizing

The DC Latino Media Collective interviewed three the kids during the making of the Mayan mosaic and the play that tells the story of how we organized to address unsafe housing conditions and the preservation of our building as affordable housing.

Three kids that have been affected by unsafe living conditions in our building provide their thoughts on how tenants can organize to address maintenance problems. Alex (who dealt with bedbugs as an infant), Andy (who once suffered from full body allergies from roaches), and nine year old Nizar.

Until we heard the interview, we did had no idea of what the kids were thinking. Their words and descriptions illustrate how deeply they see the importance of having access to safe and affordable housing.

Listen to the interview here

WPFW 89.3 (FM)

Home-Hogar-Comunidad celebration a complete sucess!

The celebration festivities this weekend have been six years in the making. Check out our online photo album to see highlights from our celebration including the making of the Mayan mosaic and the bilingual children's play that tells the story of our building.

Building Purchase Celebration Program - Saturday, October 29th

12:30 Ribbon cutting ceremony & Remarks

(Location: 1417 N Street, NW, 20005)

**Celebration moves across the street to National City Christian Church: 5 Thomas Circle NW, 20005**

1:30pm At National City Christian Church

− Blessing by Reverend Noemi P. Mena

2:00pm Mayan Mosaic Presentation

3:00pm Documentary film & photo presentations

− “Brunching with bedbugs” by Erin Finicane

− “We own this!” by LEDC

4:00pm Children’s play about the Norwood

5:00pm Live music performances by:

− Son Jarocho

− Grupo Raibales

Food, refreshments available for purchase throughout the event. Community resources information tables will be available from 1:30 – 7:00pm.

Getting ready for our celebration on Oct 29

The kids have been working hard on making decorations and backdrops for the bilingual play they will perform to tell the story of how we worked together to improve living conditions and purchase our building as an affordable housing cooperative.

Save the Date

Norwood 1417 N Street Cooperative

Community-wide Building Purchase Celebration

Saturday, October 29, 2011
Noon

Join with us as we celebrate the preservation of our building as affordable housing through the

District of Columbia Department of Housing and Community Development First Right Purchase Assistance Program

Stay tuned, more details to follow shortly.

Original Mayan weaving by Angelica Lopez, co-op board member