After a week of Real World DC madness, the blog has transitioned back to its usual housing and development-related content. This week, we welcomed both “Proud Satanist” and “Proud Catholic” as commenters to the blog. Both of them were, of course, posting about Catholic Charities’ recent threat to stop running city-contracted social service programs if forced to extend employee benefits to married gay couples.  Look for more on the same-sex marriage legislation from my colleague The Sexist Amanda Hess this week. As for me, well Ask Housing Complex! is launching in the next few days—should be fun, and by “fun” I mean “full of misery, which will hopefully lessened with sound advice.”

(1) Councilmembers Dig in Heels on Catholic Threat

(2) Catholic Church Threatens to Withhold Social Services if City Passes Same-Sex Marriage Law

(3) Second Chance for First-Time Buyers

(4) Worst Cities for Pedestrians

(5) Meet Real World DC Cast Member Ashley

(6) Second Chance for First-Time Buyers, Part 2

(7) An Explanation for the Boutique Hotel Boom

(8) Here They Are D.C., Your Seven (Eight, Actually) Strangers!

Image by TheChristianAlert.org, Flickr Creative Commons Attribution License.

Council Chair Vincent Gray, and Council Members Mendelson and Evans

It doesn’t look like the Catholic Archdiocese is going to be winning this battle.

Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that the Catholic Archdiocese had issued an ultimatum to the D.C. Council:  If you require us to extend same-sex marriage benefits to gay couples, we’ll stop running city-contracted social service programs. These programs include many homeless shelters, in addition to adoption and health care support. (This entire issue is, of course, contingent on the District’s same-sex marriage bill passing, which it is expected to next month.)

In the last two days (day 1, day 2), the Post has gathered a number of reactions from D.C. Councilmembers suggesting they’re not ready to give in and allow city money to be used to discriminate against gay couples.

• Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham had originally hoped to reach a compromise with the church, but has since altered his stance after “reviewing same-sex marriage laws in New Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont,” where the Church has not abandoned social services.

Read More “Councilmembers Dig in Heels on Catholic Threat” »

Well, this is really shameful.

For most of the Fall, we’ve been reporting on the latest strains on homeless services around the city: First, it was Central Union Mission struggling to find space for a new shelter; Next, we focused on budgetary concerns crippling shelters around the city.

Well, forget all that. Now, we have a new reason to worry key social services will soon evaporate: The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington claims that it will discontinue contracts with the city if it is forced to extend employee benefits to same-sex married couples if the D.C. Council’s gay marriage bill passes into law.

Read More “Catholic Church Threatens to Withhold Social Services if City Passes Same-Sex Marriage Law” »

Just when you thought ‘Well it looks like we’re over the final hurdle!” it appears the D.C. Convention Center hotel may be facing more delays.

This summer, the D.C. Council zoomed forward on a financing deal to jump-start a long awaited 1,167-room Marriott Marquis hotel, which is supposed to stimulate the city’s convention business, and minimize the “Mickey Mouse effect.” Once the members passed the proposal, construction was on track to begin this fall. But earlier this month, developer the JBG Companies threw a wrench in matters by suing the city over “the contracting process, which it calls an ‘invalid sole source procurement,’” according to the Washington Business Journal.

Read More “Developer Seeks to Block Convention Center Hotel Deal” »

Mid-summer, amidst many tax increases, the D.C. Council preliminarily approved a move to decrease the tax rate on vacant—often troublesome—properties. According to Councilmember Phil Mendelson, the higher rate was “actually mak[ing] it difficult for some property owners to sell or put their property back to use.”

Maybe so. But the decision wasn’t exactly a crowd-pleaser. At the time, Ward 4 Councilmember Muriel Bowser was already working on some special language that would specifically target the empty-rowhouses-turned-neighborhood-crack-dens many of us have become familiar with.

But today, the Washington Business Journal reports a twist. The special vacancy tax rate–previously “more than 10 times the residential rate of 85 cents”—is totally gone!

Read More “DC Council Kills General Vacant Property Tax Rate” »

Well this is kind of bizarre.

Just as the DC Council approves a budget increasing the sales tax, the gas tax and the cigarette and small cigar tax, it is decreasing a tax on vacant properties from $10 to $5 per $100 of assessed value, the Washington Examiner reports.

Read More “Amidst Tax Hikes, City Decreases Vacant Property Tax” »

 
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On Friday, Loose Lips obtained a letter [PDF] to the D.C. Council from outgoing deputy mayor for planning and economic development Neil O. Albert. In it, he outlined his problems with several proposals in the budget legislation scheduled for a second and final vote on Tuesday. LL plucks out the highlights, republished here:*

Two of the issues involve the fates of onetime public schools. For one thing, the council is proposing that the Grimke School, across Vermont Avenue NW from the east entrance of the U Street Metro stop and current home of the Fire and Emergency Medical Services department headquarters, to be reserved for the African-American Civil War Museum. That’s a project headed and championed by former Ward 1 Councilmember Frank Smith. The problem, Albert writes, is that several developers have entered into a bidding process on the property, incurring “significant expense” to do so. He asks that the council allow the bidding process to continue.

Read More “Albert to Council: Leave Grimke, Backus School Developments Alone” »

(1) Justice Souter’s Southwest D.C Home: About as Solitary as You Can Get Here

(2)D.C. United Fans Taking to the Streets on Saturday!

(3)Student Housing, the Newest D.C. Real Estate Boom?

(4)D.C. Council Gives $1 Million to Shaw Giant Development

(5) Does Fenty Just Get to Demolish Buildings Willy-Nilly?

(6)The Washington D.C.-Area’s Best “Towns to Live Well In”

(7) Trump Closes on Lowe’s Island Golf Club, Renames Place Immediately

(8) U Got Sales?

This morning’s Washington Post includes a story about the council mark-up on the mayor’s budget. Deputy mayor for education Victor Reinoso is getting hit the hardest—84 percent of his budget is being cut, taking it from $4 million to $778,000. 

[Council Chair Vincent] Gray has long been unhappy with Reinoso, whose portfolio includes oversight of the school construction agency, reuse of surplus school buildings and the coordination of social services in schools.

In recent public hearings, Reinoso has come under attack from Gray, who charged that he has failed to create a coherent vision for his office and has been unresponsive to the council. Read More “Budget Sliced for Office Evaluating School Construction, Reuse of Schools” »

The Washington Post published a story yesterday about how much money the District stands to gain ($1 billion in a recent version) from the federal stimulus package:

“Council members are considering what to do with the money. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) wants to use any savings to restore cuts in the District’s affordable housing program that were made in November. But he realizes that plans could change because the Senate has not yet approved Obama’s stimulus plan. The council has scheduled a public round table on the stimulus package Feb. 11, pending its approval by Congress. The District is struggling to meet its $5.4 billion budget for fiscal 2010, council members said.”