Housing in Downtown is an innovative program designed to catalyze new residential development through commercial-to-residential conversion via a 20-year tax abatement. The program is expected to help achieve 90% of the Mayor’s goal of 15,000 new residents Downtown by 2028. The program is competitive, with available funds set by program caps:
- FY24-26 – $2.5M total
- FY27 – Total cap increases to $6.8M
- FY28 – Total cap increases to $41M
- Future Years – The prior year's cap, with 4% annual escalation in each successive year.
Mayor Bowser’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget includes an updated Housing in Downtown program, additional technical amendments were adopted through emergency legislation in early January 2024 to allow for the effective administration of the program. The program’s Request for Applications (RFA) will be available in the first quarter of 2024.
This program is for owners and developers for commercial real estate and is not an apartment placement program for households.
Program Overview Decks
Housing in Downtown Program Guide
Additional Resources
- Housing in Downtown Notice of Final Rulemaking
- Housing in Downtown Tax Abatement Technical Amendment Act of 2024
- Housing in Downtown Abatement Amendment Act of 2023 (pg. 50)
- Housing in Downtown Tax Abatement Act of 2022 (pg. 98)
Questions
All questions regarding the application must be submitted via the RFA Q&A Portal.
Request for Application (RFA)
A preliminary RFA was published on March 11, 2024. A RFA was published on March 22, 2024. The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (“DMPED”) is releasing this RFA to provide instructions for applications from owners, or their authorized designees or assignees, delivering developments that meet the HID program’s requirements. The RFA consists of the following two attachments:
DMPED shall assess each application, and give preference to applications, based on the benefit of the proposed development to the area surrounding the parcel, as described in the competitive process
RFA Submission Portal
This RFA will be open on a rolling basis, allowing for the submission of applications at any time while the RFA is open, or unless otherwise posted on this website. DMPED shall review each application submitted in the order in which it is received. Submit complete applications to the submission portal (below), and a brief email should also be sent to [email protected] notifying that a submission has been made.
Submission Window Opens on March 22, 2024 (Rolling).
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Visitors will be able to submit files to this portal but will not be able to see anyone else’s submissions.
RFA Questions
For questions concerning the HID RFA, please submit via the RFA Q&A Portal. Responses will be posted publicly to this website as an FAQ.
