Evening star., 1953-04-26
DC. Unit toAsk
$800,O00 for
Area B Work
Funds to Be Used
For Appraisal Of
Southwest Project
By George Beveridqe

The District Redevelopment
Land Agency tomorrow will ask
the Housing and Home Finance
Agency for about 100000 to
carry out steps leading toward
redevelopment Of Area B in
Southwest Washington.
The 100000 will be the first
draft on an $8.8 million loan
allocated by HHFA for the slum
clearance project. AS much
Of the loan as is needed will be
repaid in part by a Federal
grant, after total expenses are
determined.
Part Of the initial funds will
be used for a detailed appraisal
and a title search Of each prop
erty in the 76-acre B Area.
bounded by Fourth. Eye and
South Capitol streets and the
Pennsylvania Railroad tracks.
Five Bids for the Job.
Under the proposal. the RIA
will re-house present residents.
clear the land and sell it to o
private investor for redevelop-
ment in accordance with spe-
cif1c plans. Five building groups
have bid for the job. The RIA
hopes to pick the winner
Wednesday.
The amount of money the
RIA receives from sale of the
property to the builder will be
applied also to the Federal loan.
The District is participating by
providing one-third of the prof.
ect cost in public Improvements.
They include part of the South
west Freeway and major expan-
sion Of the Randall Recreation
Center.
Meanwhile, Housing Admins
traitor Albert M. Cole told the
Senate yesterday that House ac-
ton on his agency's 1854 appro-
priation bill has threatened the
ability of many cities to partici-
pate in the redevelopment pro-
gram.
The provision in the House
bill he referred to would not
have allowed Washington, for
example. to have counted the
Southwest public improvements
toward gross cost of the Area B
project. This would have meant
the city would have had to fork
over more than SO million in
cash as its one-third share or
made some other direct contri-
button.
Would Affect Future. =
While the House proposal
would not affect Area B, it would
apply to later Southwest projects
If it became law.
Mr.. Cole told a Senate Appro-
priations subcommittee that
about 200 cities are drawing up
local programs under the exist
ing formula. OF 90 projects in
the final-plans stage, he testi-
fed, about one-third are plan
ming to use supporting facilities
Of the types apparently affected
to finance a substantial portion
of their local contributions"
Under the language now in
the (House) BILL" he declared,
these cities would either have
to drop out Of the program or
try to find other means of A.
nancing the local one-third
share Of project cost.
There are 129 additional pro-
jects in earlier stages Of plan
ming for which plans for meet
ing local contributions have not
yet fully crystalized. We do not
know how many of these would
be affected by the proposed
change, but undoubtedly a great
many would be-"
Makes for Confusion.
Mr.. Cole said other portions
Of the bill leave unclear exactly
what the measures ultimate ef-
feet would be, but that it makes
"for disorder and confusion In
the slum clearance program"
He urged that any change In
the redevelopment financing
formula be worked out by "a
substantive committee to
examine into all Of its Effects
on the cities now in the program
as well as on the Federal gov
ernment." He asked the Senate
group to delete the controver-
sial provision from the appro.
priation bill.
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