Dear Property Owner:

Friends and Residents is an organization made up of residents of the Arthur Capper and Carrollsburg public housing communities and concerned members of the greater community. We have organized to give voice to public housing residents who will be displaced by the HOPE VI demolition and rebuilding of Arthur Capper and Carrollsburg. One of our top concerns is making sure that the DC Housing Authority keeps its word when it comes to the details of how the rebuilding will take place.

We are contacting the property owners whose properties are within the boundaries of the HOPE VI project to let you know that we are prepared to assist you if the government attempts to purchase your property through eminent domain proceedings. It is our understanding that these proceedings will greatly limit your ability to negotiate a fair price, especially considering the change in property value that is to be expected after such a major renovation of the areas surrounding your property. We believe that by challenging eminent domain the local property owners will be in a better position throughout any negotiations.

Friends and Residents does not intend to challenge eminent domain on its own. But we will be party to any challenge made by a property owner. The basis of our challenge is a central tenet of our overall organizing strategy. There is no clear public benefit to this project, as the Housing Authority has not put any assurances to the residents in clear writing that secure our right to return to the community once the rebuilding is completed. Without a clear public benefit we do not think that the government has a right to force you to sell your property. Even if you intend to sell your property, eminent domain places you in a tough negotiating stance, and we do not think the government has the right to put you in such a position without a clear public benefit backing their claims of eminent domain. We charge that, despite the rhetoric of “one-to-one replacement,” the reality is that the Housing Authority wants to make it very difficult for residents to actually return.

If you would like Friends and Residents to be party to a challenge to the government’s right of eminent domain during the negotiations over the sell of your property, please contact us immediately. We will keep any information provided by each property owner in the strictest confidence, and will not inform the Housing Authority or other parties of any aspect of your negotiating strategies. We will work out details with each owner for how we can bolster your challenge to eminent domain. We think that this will, at the very least, strengthen your bargaining position with the Housing Authority. We believe that every resident (and property owner) in this community has a right to be treated fairly by the government, and not to be bulldozed into giving up our homes and property in the narrow interests of contractors and builders.

Thank you,
Friends and Residents Legal Committee