(Washington, DC) Mayor Adrian M. Fenty on Friday announced the District and its development partner, Bruce Finland, have begun the redevelopment of 4010 Third Street SE in Ward 8 -- turning the long-vacant apartment building into 28 new affordable and market-rate condominiums.

“This building has been a blight on this neighborhood for years,” Fenty said. “We’re rebuilding our city and that work starts in our neighborhoods – places like Washington Highlands -- by providing high quality, affordable places for our residents to live.”

The $5 million project will include 26 new condos, including three units that will be sold to buyers earning no more than 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI), and three additional units that will be set aside for buyers earning less than 30 percent of AMI, or about $28,000 for a family of four.

The Fenty Administration pledged to deliver 10,000 units of affordable housing during the course of its four-year term. Last summer, the mayor announced the District would make available at least $117 million in additional revenue to support affordable housing programs and the pledged to set aside at least 30 percent of all new units for affordable housing in development projects that involve District land.

The District took control of the 4010 Third Street project in October as a part of the consolidation of the National Capital Revitalization Corp. back into the District government. Originally conceived as a joint development project, the deal sputtered for years and nearly collapsed. The District provided $1 million to revive the project and ensure that about 30 percent of the new units were reserved as affordable.

The project is expected to be complete in 2009.