Evening star., 1938-03-04
'LANGST0N RENTS
|. ARE FIXED FROM
S19.9D TO S1.2O
Selection of 274 CoIored
Families Next Step
in Project.
OCCUPANCY ABOUT
APRIL IS EXPECTED
Heat and Essential Utilities Are
Included in Price-'Only the
Start Says Witness.
picture on Page A-2.(

SlumS to the modern apartments ana
dwellings of this $1,864,946 Govern
ment-built housing project on Ben
ming road and Twenty-fourth street
NE.
In terms of low rent the average
cost for shelter alone at LAngston is
$40 per room per month. To this
the United States Housing Authority
has added monthly room charge of
$205 for heat. hot water, electricity
for lighting, cooking and refrigeration.
This brings the average monthly room
cost to $7.45, which is believed to be
new low record for comparable living
conditions in Washington.
The announcement of these rentals
by Administrator Nathan Straus sig
nalized rush of prospective tenants.
Mr.. Straus prepared to get the busi-
ness of tenant selection under way at
once by going out to the project early
today to open up the management
office. Accompanying him were Dis
trict officials and representatives of
the Washington Housing Association.
The latter group will have . voice
with the U. S. H. A. in the manage
ment of Langston.
"Only the Start"
Addressing the assembled Office
staff, Mr.. Straus said he visualized
Langston as "only the start of what
hope will be a $4,000 900 or 3l5,000,-
900 low-rent housing program for
Washington that will really make a
dent in the slums'
Appropriate legislation has been
drawn up and soon will be introduced.
he said, to bring the District Alley
Dwelling Authority within the scope
of the United States Housing Author
ity Act.
An outright Government grant or
subsidy, Mr.. Straus said, was the cor
ner stone" of Langston and any sound
housing act.
In general, slum dwellers can pay
no more than two-thirds of an eco
nomic rent, and the other third must
be contributed as a subsidy" he said.
ANY housing plan that does not
provide subsidy is either dishonest
or unsound. 1t is dishonest to pre-
tend to rehouse slum dwellers In hous-
ing such as this without Government
subsidy, because it can't be done. It
is unsound to delude them into believ-
ing it can be done"
MIR. Straus personally received the
first application filed at the offlce to-
day. The registrant was Samuel Wat
son Of the HOO block Of Fifth street
NV. He now pays a $25 monthly
rent. Watson said he lust hoped" he
would be able to get any one Of the
Langston apartments.
Must Wait Till April Is.
Today's developments bring to an
approaching climax three and = half
years of governmental effort to estab-
lish its first large-scale low-rent hous-
ing project in Washington. The huge
project is not yet ready for occupancy.
Tenants will not be moved in, it was
announced, until about April Is. That
will provide ample time for careful
selection. Already 2, 80 families have
registered Franklin Thorne, the new
manager for Langston, expects as
many more families will register As
soon as news of the low rents gets
around. From these thousands only
274 families will be chosen.
With rentals ranging from $3.50
to $31.20 monthly, the families finally
selected must be within annual in
come groups averaging $3.50 to 81, $50.
Under the law no family can be housed
at Langston whose monthly income
exceeds five times the rent paid.
Variety in Size.
There are 10 apartments of two
rooms, kitchen and bath, which will
rent for an average of $3.50. Next
are the three-room apartments, Of
which there are 161, with charge of
$23.40. The project also offers 50
single-family dwellings of four rooms.
kitchen and bath for $27.30. Then
there are six extra-large houses Of
five rooms, kitchen and bath, which
will bring $31 20 monthly. The aver
age budget of families seeking houses
must be $1,000 and $1,450, respec-
lively. These incomes are admittedly
among the higher groups for colored
families In Washington.
Yet families with incomes less than
the minimum, it was announced, will
be taken as tenants If careful investi-
cation indicates they can pay the
stipulated rents and at the same time
provide for other necessary living ex-
penses.
Operation to Be Delegated.
The U. s. H. A. will operate and
manage Langston until some other
legally constituted body in the District
Is established to take it over. The
Alley Dwelling Authority is the only
public housing agency in the District,
but Mr.. Strauss explained that it Is
not authorized, according to legal opin-
ion, to lease or operate IAngston.
The rental charges at Iangston were
fixed in accordance with the act, at
an amount to pay all management,
operation and maintenance costs, esti-
mated in this case at $76, ,677 annually.
This includes also the $2,925 lump
sum that will be paid annually to the
District government in lieu of taxes
for servicing Langston. It also In
cludes $11,042 annually as a deprecia-
ton fund, with interest earnings ut
2 per cent, to provide for necessary
major requirements, such IS refriger-
ators, stoves, heating apparatus and
plumbing.
Rigid rules are laid down for the
would-be tenants at Langston. No
family on public relief need apply.
Proof must 1irst be furnished Of exist
ing suhstandard housing conditions
-. An.. -vs.&>h 49, &>v~,.k 4. ~>- ,l,s-~