Despite recent community redevelopment improvements along the 14th Street corridor, such as upscale retail stores, art galleries and Whole Foods market, the Norwood apartment building has lagged behind in maintenance and conditions. Meanwhile, rents continuously increase each year. Now the tenants of the Norwood have come together to save their affordable homes by creating permanent affordable housing in the changing neighborhood.
Background on the Norwood Tenant Association
The Norwood Tenants Association held its first meeting on October 2, 2005, to discuss the frequently malfunctioning laundry facilities. During the meeting, tenants were able to share and discuss the numerous problems they faced due to the lack of building maintenance as well as the malfunctioning elevator which was of major concern. Tenants reported encounters with black mold, infestations, elevator issues, and an alarming bedbug problem.
Shortly after organizing, the tenant association board reached out to community organizations and tenant advocacy organizations in an effort to learn more about tenant rights. The association notified management of the problems in letters and in meetings, and collected signatures for petitions to bring attention to the plight of tenants at the Norwood. In addition, the tenants association distributed information in English and Spanish to inform tenants about how to report, control, and prevent bed bug infestations.
In the years since forming, the Association has become a vital community partner in the neighborhood; organizing events around fire safety, a city-wide bedbug summit, a community health fair, and providing support and advice for other fledgling tenant associations.
In December 2008, tenants organized a Mexican style posada in partnership the National City Christian Church and the Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs for play entitled, “The demise of condozilla.” The community of the Norwood Apartments has been strengthened through years of organizing and supporting each other in both happy and trying times.
Also in 2008, the Tenant Association collaborated with the Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs (OLA) to convene a community forum on bed bugs. The DC Department of Health (DOH) saw the uniqueness of the Association's approach and the two groups collaborated to organize the first citywide summit on bed bugs. In November 2010, the Association was invited to testify at the first Congressional forum on bed bugs at the US Capitol where they spoke about the impact on communities.
Over five years of organizing, the Norwood Tenant Association represents both longstanding tenants who have lived at the Norwood for multiple generations and young professionals who moved into the neighborhood in recent years.
Offer of sale
The tenants association unanimously rejected a 2006 condo conversion pitch from the owner and demanded that the building be brought up to code before any conversion. Meanwhile the association decided to pursue a parallel organizing track to work to purchase the building as a tenant-owned cooperative. The tenant association’s lawyer informed the owner that residents were interested in purchasing the building and asked that the building be offered to residents through the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) process.
The tenants association has worked with advocacy and community groups, such as LEDC and TENAC, to reach out to the press to highlight some of the issues at the Norwood apartment building and throughout the District. As a result the association and its efforts have been the subject of a series of radio and TV interviews, and newspaper articles and a documentary film called “I’m not leaving.” The hope is that this coverage will spur the much-needed repairs that the residents seek, as well as to give a voice to other tenants in the city who face similar problems and condo conversion pressures.
On May 12th, 2007, the owner of the Norwood officially offered the sale of the building to the tenants without third party contract. After educating the Norwood residents about tenant rights and securing funding form the DC office of the Tenant Advocate to cover legal fees, the Board collaborated with LEDC to organize a response and development plan to make the tenant purchase a reality. In the year since the offer, the Norwood Tenants Association has continued to educate tenants about cooperatives, and has begun talks with the owner to reach common ground.
Looking towards the future
In telling this story to other tenant groups the Norwood leaders have already inspired other tenants to pursue options which will preserve their affordable housing versus accepting a condo buyout which would result in the loss of affordable housing leading to tenant displacement.
One of the strengths at the Norwood is the residents’ organization and resolve to preserve their affordable housing, and the creative use of the arts and culture to express their community. The tenants plan to continue negotiating the purchase of the building while planning ways to strengthen their community. Residents hope their work will result in a solution that keeps the building affordable, allowing tenants to stay in their homes, and longtime neighborhood. Tenant leaders have also committed to continuing to tell their story, in the hopes that tenants at other buildings will be empowered to preserve their homes, as well.
