Howard University Benefits Community through Affordable Housing Developments

February 12, 2019  

Howard University Benefits Community through Affordable Housing Developments

HUD User publishes a series of case studies based on federal, state, and local strategies that increase affordable housing opportunities and support community development. The projects and community development efforts featured in these reports have demonstrated innovation through a multitude of partnerships and initiatives

Howard University has been actively addressing housing needs in LeDroit Park, a predominantly African-American neighborhood in the District of Columbia abutting the campus of the historically black university. Howard created a land bank from the unoccupied buildings that it had purchased in the 1970s and 1980s during the expansion of its hospital, which the university decided to redevelop to improve its surroundings and provide affordable housing. To avoid the risks of development projects, the university explored partnerships with outside developers while retaining ownership of the land. In one such partnership, for-profit developers RISE and Gateway Investment Partners transformed 1.3 acres into a mixed-use development. Opened in October 2018, Trellis House offers 319 apartments and 11,517 square feet of retail space in a 6-story building.

Visit HUD User's Case Studies page to learn more about affordable homeownership and to view other promising examples of how communities across the nation are raising the bar on community development.

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