Evening star., 1953-04-06
New Southwest
.S|um Project
Being Planned
Work Due to Sturt
Before Completion
Of Area B Program
By George Beveridee

slum- clearance program under
way in Southwest Washington
before the So-called Area B prof.
ect Is finished.
Approval of Federal aid funds.
disclosed yesterday. marked q
major progress point in plans to
clear some of the city's worst
slums and rebuild the 76-acre
B area. The section is bounded
by Fourth, I and South Capitol
streets and the Pennsylvania
Railroad tracks.
Work is Started.
However. John r. Searles, jr.,
RIA director, said work already
is under way on ground rules"
for second redevelopment
project.
Area B is envisioned a, a pilot
program leading toward rede-
velopment of the entire water
front area between South Capt.
tol street and the vicinity Of
Twelfth street S.W. Five pri-
vate building groups bidding for
the Area B job all have expressed
an interest in rebuilding the
whole Southwest section.
Mr.. Searles said he thought a
new project should be we'll under
way by the time the Area B pro-
gram is in its final stages. A
main reason, he said, is that per-
sons to be displaced from other
Southwest areas could be housed
in new Area B dwelling units.
He said an early start elsewhere
would be feasible because of vol-
luminous data collected in prep
aration for the Area r job.
Two Main Problems.
These two main problems. Mr..
Searles said, are involved in fu-
ture Southwest redevelopment:
ID What pattern should the
next project take? (2) Where
would the money come from?
The basic plan for redevelop-
ing Area B originated with the
National Capital Planning Com
mission. After a public hearing,
the District commissioners ap-
proved the plan, and certified it
to the RIA. The land agency. in
turn, requested proposals from
private builders interested in
doing the redevelopment job. OF
the five large-scale proposals
submitted, the RIA hopes to
select a choice within two weeks.
A contract will be negotiated
with the winner, spelling out
details of construction and the
amount the builder is willing to
pay for the 76 acres of land.
Before turning the land over
to the builder. the RIA will buy
it from present owners. and de-
molish the existing structures.
Since five private investors
have shown an interest in the
entire 427-acre Southwest area.
Mr.. Searles said, it might be
possible to reach an agreement
with one or more of them as the
first step toward a future prof.
ect. All that would be necessary
then would be for the builders
detailed plans to be approved by
the planning commission and the
city heads.
Such a project, Mr.. SearleS
said, might cover a large area. a
series of areas or such a specific
tract as Area B.
Two Money Problems
The money question, the di-
rector said, hinges on two prob.
lens. The first is whether ex-
tensive Federal aid would be re-
quired. The second is whether
the District could meet its one
third share of the net project
cost.
Under the Area B formula ap-
proved by the HHFA. no direct
cash outlay is required from the
city. Instead. its one-third share
is made up by construction i'm
provements agreed to by the
District.
Most Of the actual Area B cost
would be made up by Federal
grant. Largest single expense OF
the program will come in ac-
quiring land from present owners.
Size of the Federal grant needed,
therefore, will depend almost en-
tirely on how much private in
vestors are willing to pay the
RIA for the land.
In subsequent projects. Mr..
Searles said he thought chances
of qualifying for Federal aid "are
excellent" if substantial money
can be recovered through the
sale of land to the private in
vestorS.
Housing and Home Finance
Agency officials said they would
be very receptive" to submis-
sion of future project plans for
the Southwest.
$500 Million in Grants.
The housing agency is author
lied to allot up to $500 million
in grants for urban redevelop-
ment programs which meet rigid
standards. AS of February %.
officials said, $9,492 900 had been
obligated for this purpose.
The $500 million had been
tentatively earmarked for pos
sible use by various cities on a
rough basis of the number Of
SUBJ standard dwelling units in
each city. Generally the for
mula earmarked $50 for each
such unit. This tentative limita-
ton has been exceeded in nu-
merous instances, however, in
cluding the District.
On the basis of sub-standard
dwellings. the District had a cap
ital grant figure of $4.S million
earmarked. The grant author
lied tor Area B alone called for
allotment of up to $6.3 million,
One firm limitation on such