This D.C. Housing Complex Is So Bad It Might Get a Tax Break

Residents of The Gale Eckington, a 603-unit apartment complex in Northeast D.C., have endured years of rodent infestations, mold, broken elevators, and ignored maintenance requests. Now, Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker has proposed a $21 million, 10-year tax abatement for the building’s owners — Jonathan Rose Companies and JBG Smith Properties — as a way to break what he calls a “death spiral” of deferred maintenance and unpaid rent.

The owners point to rising operating costs and rent nonpayment from tenants as the root cause. Residents say the abatement rewards poor management. “Getting the tax abatement is kind of a cop out, because they get free money,” said one tenant — “but they will actually have to fix the problems.”

The proposal adds to D.C.’s ongoing debate about tax abatements as a development tool, even as the city faces a $1.1 billion budget deficit. NOTUS reporter Zara Norman has the full story.