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.
Program Overview Decks
Housing in Downtown Program Guide
Additional Resources
Housing in Downtown Tax Abatement Technical Temporary 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
For general questions concerning the Housing in Downtown program, please email Olivia Jovine, DMPED Program Manager, at olivia.jovine@dc.gov. All questions regarding the application must be submitted via the RFA Q&A Portal.