by Andrew Giambrone, Washington City Paper

Within a couple years, District leaders say that Mount Vernon Triangle will be home to a 223-unit affordable-housing development for residents who formerly experienced homelessness and families headed by grandparents.

Mayor Muriel Bowser, Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, and leaders of Bible Way Church on Monday morning broke ground on Plaza West at 307 K St. NW, which will contain 50 units devoted to “grandfamilies” as well as 11 units for people receiving services from the D.C. Department of Behavioral Health. The development will feature a staggered affordability structure: DBH clients must be making less than 30 percent of area median income, and grandfamilies must be making between 30 and 50 percent of it; the remaining 162 units will be available to residents making below 60 percent of AMI. (Last fiscal year, the District’s AMI was roughly $110,000.) Speakers said the “grandfamily” model for the site is based on a facility seen in New York.

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