“They underestimated us.” Getachew Hailu, the president of the 1400 Aspen St. Tenants Association sounded amused when he told the story of the hard-fought battle to go from renters to share owners of their building. Originally from Ethiopia, Mr. Hailu went on to say, “they saw a bunch of immigrants, seniors and folks that speak Spanish and thought we would be susceptible. That was a big mistake.”
In 2015, the residents of 1400 Aspen Street NW seized the opportunity to take ownership of their building through DC’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA). Under TOPA, the tenants of 1400 Aspen Street had the right of first purchase and chose to exercise their right and form a limited equity cooperative. At face value, the process sounds easy enough: when a property owner decides to put their property on the market, tenants get first dibs on buying the property. However, for the 1400 Aspen Street Tenants Association, the road to ownership was anything but easy. Their hard fought victory is a testament to both the perseverance of the tenants in the face of a cutthroat housing market, and the systems DC has in place to get them across the finish line.
A Quiet Community
1400 Aspen Street is a simple red brick building that sits on a quiet corner in Northwest DC. It is home to seniors, families, hospital employees and essential workers that have risen to the occasion in height of the COVID-19 crisis. The neighborhood is also on the brink of several changes that are heating up the housing market. Just across the street from 1400 Aspen Street, the Walter Reed Campus is undergoing a $1 billion redevelopment into a new DC neighborhood. The building is also a block from Rock Creek Park, and near Georgia Ave NW, a main commercial corridor in Northwest DC. In short, 1400 Aspen St is the place to be.
Silvia Ellis, a longtime resident, describes 1400 Aspen Street as so quiet, “you can sleep and listen to all the birds.” She is thankful for the location, the ease she has finding parking, and her caring neighbors. Several residents have lived in the building for as long as 35 years and in that time most residents have come to know each other. About half of the tenants are Ethiopian immigrants, and the remaining are Latino immigrants or longer-term Black and white DC residents.
When the opportunity to purchase their building through TOPA came about, a few tenants were fearful of change and uncertain about whether remaining renters or owning a share in the property would be the better decision. Many were concerned about the logistics of starting co-op. Ellis reflected, “We knew a lot of people wanted to have a co-op but didn’t know how to start.”
A Simple Start
Interested residents found their start when they got in touch with the Latino Economic Development Corporation (LEDC). Familiar with the TOPA process, LEDC helped tenants form and incorporate the 1400 Aspen Street Tenants Association – a critical step in pursuing the TOPA process. Once established, tenants collaborated with LEDC to inform every tenant of their options and the pros and cons of remaining renters or becoming owners of their building via a co-op. They worked with bilingual translators to make sure each resident received the information in their native language and ultimately took a vote. The movement to become a co-op won by a landslide.
TOPA presents important opportunities for tenants to become owners, but it comes with regulations and timelines that are challenging to navigate without expert guidance. Fortunately, LEDC connected the Tenants Association (TA) with Martha Davis, an experienced development consultant, to guide them through the acquisition and cooperative formation process. “Martha came in like a star for us,” Sylvia Ellis said. “Martha helped with all the issues with getting government approval.”
For a few brief moments, the process appeared to be smooth sailing. Residents were excited about becoming a limited equity cooperative—allowing them to completely control the management of their building and ensuring that future co-op members will be able to buy-in at an affordable price.
Then the bribes started. The offers were small at first—the typical few hundred dollars developers offer to coax tenants into leaving their homes so they can flip affordable properties into “luxury” or modernized apartments with drastically increased rents. The proponents of the co-op at 1400 Aspen declined the offers, content with their long-term plan to maintain their community while preparing for their futures. As a result, the offers increased. One developer, eager to acquire the property promised not to increase the rent for three years following acquisition, 3 months of free rent and $5,500 cash if residents would forsake their claim to the property. Despite serious financial need among many residents, they held steadfast.
Unfortunately, it didn’t end there. After tenants refused, the third party actors persuaded a member of the Tenants Association to file a lawsuit falsely claiming the Tenants Association was not properly representing the tenants, thus preventing the group from exercising their TOPA rights. He sued the vice president and several board members. Even the lawyers knew the case was baseless–but winning was not the goal. It was crunch time for a critical TOPA deadline and their goal was to run out the clock.
The Tipping Point
Getachew Hailu had no intention of taking the role of president, but the lawsuit pushed him over the edge. He recounted, “One of the board members they sued was a single mom with three kids and a full time job. She had to be in court every day and often missed work. That was the last straw for me. I thought, if you want to play the game, I’m going to play the game—I became stubborn. If this guy is going push us, we’re going to push him.” The Tenants Association elected Getachew Hailu, who brought integrity and a new resolve to the leadership role and moved forward with help from the LEDC who connected them with Legal Aid DC.
Mr. Hailu admits he has never been fond of lawyers, “but these lawyers were a godsend. They changed my mind about lawyers.” The battle was lengthy but through it all, the TA remained confident while their lawyers guided them through the TOPA process. “They [the opposition] knew we did everything by the book. LEDC helped us and didn’t take any short cuts. They knew they were going to lose.” After two and half years of litigation, the Tenants Association won their case in Spring 2019.
Just the Beginning
On February 19, 2020, the TA took over the building officially as a co-op. Throughout the entire TOPA process, Martha Davis and the co-op developed a detailed plan for acquisition that involved vetting potential financial partners. In the end, the 1400 Aspen Street Tenant’s Association partnered with LISC DC who provided the capital needed to close on the purchase of their building, using the *DC Preservation Fund to provide a flexible loan. Mr. Hailu expressed gratitude for LISC DC saying, “If LISC didn’t get involved we would have had to go to a for-profit bank and would have lost lots of money.”
Reflecting on the three-year journey from renters to cooperative owners, Silvia Ellis is thankful for the things that have changed and the things that have stayed the same. “It’s still nice and quiet and you don’t have to fight for parking. Before, the washing machines didn’t always work, but now they always do and things get fixed more quickly.” Ms. Ellis and Mr. Hailu are both adamant that as a community, the tenants take care of each other in a way that is more personal and effective than when answering to a distant property owner.
Scarcely a month after the TA took on ownership, the COVID-19 pandemic swept through DC, threatening health and economic stability for many. As cooperative owners of their property, residents at 1400 Aspen are safe from many fears. Ms. Ellis stated, “We are in control of where we live.” As a community, they have worked to keep the apartment clean and have cut cost through simple practices, like taking their own trash to the dumpster rather than relying on a service. As a community, they are committed to weathering this pandemic together. Ms. Ellis continued, “We have protection, we don’t congregate, everyone is doing what they have to do to be safe.”
Mr. Hailu acknowledges there are things they hope to change in the future but “you don’t tie your shoe when you’re running.” He is concerned about a few vacancies in their building and their costs to the association each month. He is also aware that times are tight but so far most tenants are still making their monthly payments and they’re in a financially good place overall. He’s thankful that most tenants are employed and admits, “if nobody pays we are in deep trouble, but people pay. The tenants are responsible.”
The 1400 Aspen Street Tenants Association banded together to use TOPA and its related programs to reach their goal of becoming a limited equity cooperative—gaining control and keeping their building affordable for years to come. When asked if she would recommend the TOPA process to other tenants, Silvia Ellis is unequivocal, “It’s not easy. You have to fight for what you want to do. You are the one that has to get people to believe in you and you do that through action. We did the action. In the end, our efforts paid off because everybody feels a sense of community.”
*The DC Preservation Fund is being funded in partnership with the District of Columbia Department of Housing and Community Development.