��ݮtv

NOTE: This story was updated at 6 p.m. on Nov. 26 to include comment from POAH’s Maia Shanklin-Roberts and details of our outreach to D.C. Department of Buildings. This update came after some clarity about where to find the records mentioned. 

D.C. government officials, community members, and an affordable housing developer recently celebrated a crucial milestone in Barry Farm’s redevelopment. 

On Nov. 21, dozens watched as D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, D.C. Councilmember Trayon White, D.C. Housing Authority (DCHA) Director Keith Pettigrew, and others cut the ribbon on The Asberry, the first of several residential buildings to be completed on Barry Farm under the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Planning’s . 

This new five-story, mixed-use senior community, named after late Barry Farm resident Asberry Sanker, Jr., has 108 affordable housing units, 77 of which are reserved for former Barry Farm residents. Out of the 200 Barry Farm elders who’ve been contacted, at least 15 have expressed interest in leasing at The Asberry, according to Maia Shanklin-Roberts of .  

“We had contact with residents throughout the project through mailers and phone calls,” said Shanklin-Roberts, POAH’s vice president of Mid-Atlantic real estate development. “It’s on the residents to make the decision [to return]. We try to hold resident meetings quarterly and residents are informed 180 days before completion. Then we generate an interest list and continue to follow up.”

POAH is DCHA’s development partner on Barry Farm redevelopment, as well as majority owner and on-site property manager. In 2021, both entities submitted the D.C. Zoning Commission, on record as . 

Years prior, in 2018, the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled that the D.C. Zoning Commission didn’t satisfactorily address residents’ concerns about relocation and the number of two to six-bedroom units to be constructed. 

In 2014, that group of residents, 50 strong, collaborated with the organizing group and formed the . Despite their efforts, demolition went on as planned in 2019. 

With completion years away, Shanklin-Roberts expressed plans to collaborate further with DCHA and zero in on former Barry Farm families, especially during the last phase of the Barry Farm redevelopment yielding five-bedroom units. 

“We rely on DCHA to [determine] who’s returning and who has that right,” Shanklin-Roberts said.

Questions about Transparency, Timeline 

On Nov. 21, Bowser, Pettigrew and others also broke ground on the Edmonson, a mixed-income apartment slated for completion right next to The Asberry in 2026. That apartment building, named after Emily Edmonson, founding member of the , has 139 mixed-income units, including 50 affordable units for Barry Farm residents who wish to return.

In total, completion of the Barry Farm redevelopment in 2029 will bring 900 rental and for-sale units, 380 of which will be available for former residents. There will also be an additional 320 affordable units and 100 homeownership units, along with retail space and a large central park.   

As , each building permit application for the Barry Farm redevelopment has to include: the number and type of affordable replacement units proposed; the number of which have been issued and the status of each one; the anticipated location, planned location and building permit application submission for the remaining affordable replacement units. 

The rule also stipulates that the developer submit copies of each permit and replacement unit report to the zoning commission case record. While D.C. Department of Buildings confirmed submission of these documents, a search of yielded no discovery of permits or replacement unit reports for The Asberry and Edmonson. 

As a matter of fact, POAH’s , a letter requesting that the D.C. Zoning Commission allow submission of a letter detailing engagement with the Barry Farm community, was filed in the spring of 2021. 

Shanklin-Roberts, responding to an Informer inquiry about this matter, mentioned that POAH provided documentation to the zoning commission detailing the distribution of the 380 affordable replacement units across the Barry Farm redevelopment. She also said that POAH, after consulting a staff attorney and looking further into the issue, would most likely be filing an update within the next month.  

Ari Theresa, an attorney who worked on behalf of the Barry Farm Tenants and Allies Association, said that it’s incumbent upon POAH and DCHA to file building permits that include unit replacement reports. 

“It’s part of the relocation plan that ensures everyone returns,” Theresa told The Informer. “If they have no handle on what’s been built and what will go where then that’s how you end up finishing a project without the adequate number of units.” 

In speaking more deeply about POAH and DCHA’s alleged noncompliance, Theresa saidresidents don’t have much latitude in how they can respond.

“They could appeal the building permit… but that would delay granting the permit, and potentially people’s return,”he said. “At the same time, these kinds of promises are 70 years old and have never been kept. We just prefer that D.C. follows their regulations.” 

Former Barry Farm resident Paulette Matthews gave a similar call for efficiency, telling The Informer that she declined invitations to lease at The Asberry. She said DCHA properly accommodated her and her dogs in Northwest with a unit and fence like what they had at Barry Farm.  

“People would like to come back, but if the process was quicker,” said Matthews, 65. ““Most get comfortable where they live.” 

Matthews lived in Barry Farm for nearly 21 years before leaving in 2019. In the years leading up to her move, she organized with Empower DC and served as vice president of Barry Farm Tenants and Allies Association. 

Though the organization is defunct, Matthews said she maintains contact with other former Barry Farm residents, most of whom she said are waiting for future openings in multifamily units that will have a washer and dryer. 

“Many residents have died or will die before they get to return,” Matthews said. “The developers should have been able to put those homes up quickly. When we went to those meetings, we kept trying to figure out if they had the money, but the real question was how to put the buildings up as fast as they knocked them down.” 

Continuing a Legacy 

Just days after cranking to Junkyard Band at the Go-Go Museum and Cafe’s soft launch, Bowser the band’s old stomping grounds. That’s where, in front of The Asberry, she expressed pride in a redevelopment project that employed Ward 8 residents. 

She also took a moment to talk about a promise she made to Marion S. Barry to surpass him, and her oher mayoral predecessors, in investments made in Ward 8.

“I didn’t make that promise lightly and I stand here almost 10 years as your mayor knowing it’s true, “ Bowser said. 

Bowser went on to mention past and future projects. 

“We’ve invested over a billion dollars in keeping promises to Ward 8, and even with that, there’s so much more to do,” she said. “We can look at Barry Farm, St. Elizabeths Hospital … MLK Gateway and Black-owned businesses along every major corridor. The safer commercial corridor hub, the Clara, Maple View. We do it together. And it’s a testament to having a vision.” 

Barry Farm sits within proximity of Southeast Freeway, Suitland Parkway and St. Elizabeths West Campus. Black occupancy dates back to the Reconstruction Era, when free and formerly enslaved African Americans settled on the 375-acre plot of land purchased by the Freedmen’s Bureau. 

Nearly a century later, in 1942, Alley Dwelling Authority created Barry Farm Dwelling, a public housing community intended to alleviate a local housing shortage that particularly affected African Americans. 

Throughout the 20th century, Barry Farm residents coalesced around various causes and activities, including food sovereignty and what would become the summer basketball league known as the Goodman League. 

During the Civil RIghts movement, residents agitated for desegregation of their neighborhood public pool and public school. The latter of those issues led to Bolling v. Sharpe, a Brown v. Board of Education companion case that paved the way for integration of District schools. 

For Shawntay Vines, a former Barry Farm resident and employee at the , The Asberry represents the fulfillment of a vision. On Nov. 21, she spoke before celebrants and introduced Bowser as her co-workers gleefully watched — . 

“Spending my childhood here instilled the importance of civic engagement, collaboration and hard work,” said Vines, who lived in Barry Farm between 2006 and 2019.  

Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative has worked with POAH and DCHA to ensure that Barry Farm residents’ voices were heard while planning the redevelopment. That’s where Vines zaid she leveraged her experience as a former Barry resident to effect change. 

“As a resident neighborhood advisor, I made sure this project ensured the rights of me and my community,” Vines said. “As I stand in front of The Asberry, I can say this is a positive change. I am glad my family, friends and loved ones will have the opportunity to live in polished, modern homes while continuing the legacy of those that came before us.”