2023 District of Columbia Code › Title 47 - Taxation, Licensing, Permits, Assessments, and Fees. [Enacted title] › Chapter 8 - Real Property Assessment and Tax › Subchapter II - Authority and Procedure to Establish Real Property Tax Rates › § 47–857.06. Tax abatements for new residential developments — Tax abatement for new, mixed-income housing projects in Housing Priority Area A

§ 47–857.06. Tax abatements for new residential developments — Tax abatement for new, mixed-income housing projects in Housing Priority Area A.
(a) Subject to § 47-857.02, there shall be allowed as an abatement of the real property tax imposed by § 47-811 on an eligible real property in eligible area #2 an amount computed as follows: $1.75 per residential FAR square foot, multiplied by the building’s total residential FAR square footage as certified by the project architect; provided, that:
(1) If a project does not use concrete construction throughout the building or does not include underground parking, the per residential FAR square foot tax abatement shall be determined by the Mayor and shall be determined so that the total tax abatement is estimated to be equal to 95% of the difference between the residential real property tax imposed on the project by § 47-811 before and after development.
(2) Ten percent of the housing units in the eligible real property shall be affordable to, and occupied by, low-income households for 20 years after the certificate of occupancy for the eligible real property is issued.
(3) The dwelling units occupied by low-income households shall be equivalent in size and quality to other dwelling units in the development.
(4) The variety of the sizes of dwelling units occupied by low-income households shall be reasonably similar to the variety of sizes of dwelling units in the eligible property as a whole.
(5) The tax abatement for an eligible real property allowed by this section shall expire at the end of the 10th tax year after the tax year in which a certificate of occupancy is issued for the eligible real property.
(6) If, during a tax year for which the tax abatement is authorized by this section, the property for which the abatement was granted contains fewer than 10 dwelling units, the abatement shall not be allowed.
(b) If, during one of the last 10 years of the 20-year period of affordability required by subsection (a)(2) of this section, 10% of the housing units are not affordable to, and occupied by, low-income households, the owner of the property shall be assessed a penalty of $10,000 per year for each unit which should be, but is not, affordable to low-income households; provided, that the Mayor may waive the penalty upon a showing of good cause.
(c) The Mayor may require an owner to demonstrate that the rents and tenant income for the eligible real property are consistent with the requirements of the tax abatement. If the requirements are not met, the abatement shall not be allowed and the owner shall remit all taxes owed for the period of non-compliance.
(d)(1) For the purposes of this subsection, the term:
(A) “K Street Building” means the portion of the Wax Museum project comprised of the building to be constructed on the site bounded on the south side by K Street, N.W., on the west side by 5th Street, N.W., on the north side by L Street, N.W., and on the east side by the alley running parallel to 5th Street, N.W.
(B) “L Street Building” means the portion of the Wax Museum project comprised of the building to be constructed on the portion of the property to be disposed of pursuant to the RFP Resolution that is not included within the K Street Building.
(C) “RFP Resolution” means the Revised Request for Proposals for the Redevelopment of Parcel One, the Former Wax Museum Site Approval Resolution of 2003, introduced on June 13, 2003 (PR15-249).
(D) “Wax Museum developer” means the person (or any successor in interest) with which the District enters into an agreement for the disposition of the property on which the Wax Museum project will be constructed.
(E) “Wax Museum project” means the project constructed pursuant to the request for proposals in the RFP Resolution.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of § 47-857.02, there shall be allowed an abatement of $664,000 per year of the real property tax imposed by § 47-811 on the Wax Museum project (to be allocated between the K Street Building and L Street Building as set forth in paragraph (4) of this subsection), and the Mayor shall issue to the Wax Museum developer certification letters stating that the property and buildings are eligible for the abatement and that the Mayor has reserved the abatement for the property and buildings in the allocated amounts; provided, that:
(A) With respect to the K Street Building:
(i) The first level of concrete for the K Street Building shall be laid by December 31, 2006, or such earlier date as may be set forth in an agreement between the Wax Museum developer and the National Capital Revitalization Corporation or RLA Revitalization Corporation;
(ii) A certificate of occupancy for the K Street Building shall have been issued within 36 months after the first level of concrete has been laid for the K Street Building, or such earlier date as may be set forth in an agreement between the Wax Museum developer and the National Capital Revitalization Corporation or RLA Revitalization Corporation; and
(iii) The K Street Building satisfies § 47-857.06(a)(2) through (4);
(B) With respect to the L Street Building:
(i) The first level of concrete for the L Street Building shall be laid within 18 months after the receipt by the Wax Museum developer of the Mayor’s certification letter pertaining to the tax abatement for K Street Building, or such earlier date as may be set forth an agreement between the Wax Museum developer and the National Capital Revitalization Corporation or RLA Revitalization Corporation;
(ii) A certificate of occupancy for the L Street Building shall have been issued within 30 months after the first level of concrete has been laid for the L Street Building, or such earlier date as may be set forth in an agreement between the Wax Museum developer and the National Capital Revitalization Corporation or RLA Revitalization Corporation; and
(iii) The L Street Building satisfies § 47-857.06(a)(2) through (4); and
(C) If the residential project known as Quincy Court, located at 1117 10th Street, N.W., requests participation under § 47-857.04(b) by a letter to the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, or his or her successor, prior to December 31, 2005, the annual amount of the abatement of real property tax imposed by § 47-811 on the Wax Museum project (to be allocated between the K Street Building and L Street Building as set forth in paragraph (4) of this subsection) shall be $675,000.
(3) For each deadline set forth in paragraph (2) of this subsection, one 6-month extension may be granted at the discretion of the Mayor.
(4) The tax abatement allowed by this subsection shall be allocated between the K Street Building and the L Street Building based upon the election of the Wax Museum developer, which election shall be made by notification to the Mayor and the Office of Tax and Revenue upon the issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the 1st building to be completed.
(5) The tax abatement allowed by this subsection shall be included in and subject to the $2 million abatement limit set forth in § 47-857.09(b).
(6)(A) The tax abatement allowed by this subsection for the K Street Building shall expire at the end of the 10th tax year after the tax year in which a certificate of occupancy is issued for the residential portion of the K Street Building.
(B) The tax abatement allowed by this subsection for the L Street Building shall expire at the end of the 10th tax year after the tax year in which a certificate of occupancy is issued for the residential portion of the L Street Building.
(Apr. 19, 2002, D.C. Law 14-114, § 601(b), 49 DCR 1468; Apr. 12, 2005, D.C. Law 15-329, § 2(b), 52 DCR 1975; Apr. 7, 2006, D.C. Law 16-91, § 103(b), 52 DCR 10637; Mar. 20, 2008, D.C. Law 17-125, § 2, 55 DCR 1518.)
Section References
This section is referenced in § 47-857.02, § 47-857.07, and § 47-857.09.
Effect of Amendments
D.C. Law 15-329 added subsec. (d).
D.C. Law 16-91, in the lead-in language of subsec. (d)(2), substituted “there shall be allowed an abatement of $664,000 per year of the real property tax imposed by § 47-811 on the Wax Museum project (to be allocated between the K Street Building and L Street Building as set forth in paragraph (4) of this subsection)” for “there shall be allowed an abatement of $710,000 per year of the real property tax imposed by § 47-811 on the Wax Museum project (to be allocated between the K Street Building and L Street Building as set forth in paragraph (3) of this subsection)”; in subpar. (d)(2)(A)(iii), deleted the word “and” at the end; in subpar. (d)(2)(B)(iii), substituted “; and” for the period at the end; and added subpar. (d)(2)(C).
D.C. Law 17-125 rewrote subsec. (d)(4), which had read as follows: “(4) The tax abatement allowed by this subsection shall be allocated between the K Street Building and the L Street Building based upon the square footage dedicated to residential units in each building as certified by the Wax Museum project architect.”
Emergency Legislation
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(b) of Finance and Revenue Technical Corrections Emergency Amendment Act of 2005 (D.C. Act 16-51, March 17, 2005, 52 DCR 3164).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(c) of Finance and Revenue Technical Amendments Emergency Amendment Act of 2006 (D.C. Act 16-260, January 26, 2006, 53 DCR 780).
For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(c) of Finance and Revenue Technical Amendments Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2006 (D.C. Act 16-361, April 26, 2006, 53 DCR 3619).
Temporary Legislation
Section 2(b) of D.C. Law 16-7, in subsec. (d)(2), in the undesignated text, deleted “there shall be allowed an abatement of $710,000 per year of the real property tax imposed by § 47-811 on the Wax Museum project (to be allocated between the K Street Building and L Street Building as set forth in paragraph (3) of this subsection)” and inserted “there shall be allowed an abatement of $664,000 per year of the real property tax imposed by § 47-811 on the Wax Museum project (to be allocated between the K Street Building and L Street Building as set forth in paragraph (4) of this subsection)”, in subpar. (A)(iii), deleted “and”, in subpar. (B)(iii), substituted “; and” for a period, and added subpar. (C) to read as follows:
Section 6(b) of D.C. Law 16-7 provided that the act shall expire after 225 days of its having taken effect.
Section 2(c) of D.C. Law 16-102, in par. (d)(2), substituted “there shall be allowed an abatement of $664,000 per year of the real property tax imposed by § 47-811 on the Wax Museum project (to be allocated between the K Street Building and L Street Building as set forth in paragraph (4) of this subsection)” for “there shall be allowed an abatement of $710,000 per year of the real property tax imposed by § 47-811 on the Wax Museum project (to be allocated between the K Street Building and L Street Building as set forth in paragraph (3) of this subsection)”; in subpar. (d)(2)(A)(iii), substituted “;” for “; and”; in subpar. (d)(2)(B)(iii), substituted “(4); and” for “(4).”; and added subpar. (d)(2)(C) to read as follows:
“(C) If the residential project known as Quincy Court, located at 1117 10th Street, N.W., requests participation under § 47-857.04(b) by a letter to the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, or his or her successor, prior to December 31, 2005, the annual amount of the abatement of real property tax imposed by § 47-811 on the Wax Museum project (to be allocated between the K Street Building and L Street Building as set forth in paragraph (4) of this subsection) shall be $675,000.”
Section 11(b) of D.C. Law 16-102 provided that the act shall expire after 225 days of its having taken effect.