Judge Voids Some 2002 DC
Assessments
By Lori Montgomery and Eric M. Weiss
A DC Superior Court judge
has invalidated a third of the District's 2002
residential property tax assessments, ruling that
"widespread discrimination" forced owners of
less-expensive houses to shoulder an excessive tax
burden.
Judge Eugene N. Hamilton
of the Superior Court's Tax Division said the city's
2002 assessments of 35,000 properties -- many of them in
rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods east of the
Anacostia
River, along 16th Street NW and just west of Rock Creek
Park -- were "arbitrary" and "capricious." He ordered
District officials and disgruntled taxpayers who brought
suit to present him with proposed remedies at a hearing
in November.
The impact of the case is
unclear, and it could be years before taxpayers feel its
effect, if any, attorneys said. But Peter S. Craig, the
Cleveland Park homeowner and retired federal lawyer who
first challenged the assessments, said he will seek to
have them rolled back to 2001 levels, a move that could
force the city to refund as much as $44 million.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/27/AR2005092701763.html
Williams Will Not Run for
Third Term
By Yolanda Woodlee and Lori
Montgomery
DC Mayor Anthony A.
Williams announced today that he will not seek
reelection next year, telling supporters he feels "it's
time for a change" and for "new challenges."
Speaking at a Southeast
Washington recreation center packed with more than 300
longtime friends and political supporters, including his
cabinet and DC Council members, Williams said he was
proud of his accomplishments in seven years in office
but has decided against seeking a third term. "As
mayor, I've led this city to, I believe, the threshold
of real greatness," Williams said. "I believe that I've
gotten us to a point where we've opened the door and
prepared this city to walk through that door. But I have
to come to tell you today that I will not be the one to
lead you through that door."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/29/AR2005092901046.html
Residents Get Chance to
See City's Plans for Future
By David Betancourt
Local residents from
across the city gathered last
weekfor the first of four forums to help people
learn more about the DC Comprehensive Plan, a guide to
the District's overall development and redevelopment for
the next 20 years.
Sponsored by the DC Office
of Planning and held at Kelly Miller Middle School in
Northeast, the event last Wednesday provided an overview
of numerous components of the plan, as well as the
current thinking about proposed new developments and
restructuring.
Charles C. Graves III,
chief spokesman for the plan and the deputy director of
long range planning, said the forums were intended to
give DC residents a voice in future developments in the
city. Subsequent community sessions were held last
Thursday at
Thurgood
Marshall Center in Northwest, this Tuesday at Eastern
High School in Northeast and yesterday at Wilson High
School in Northwest.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/28/AR2005092800975.html
Mayoral Candidates Turn Up
the Gas
By Eric M. Weiss and Lori Montgomery
The election is on. How
can we tell? Because at the Sept. 20 meeting of the DC
Council, topic number one was voter anger over rising
gas prices.
Mayoral candidates
Adrian M.
Fenty and
Vincent B. Orange Sr.
competed to present the most sincere display of fury on
behalf of the city's beleaguered drivers.
Fenty (D-Ward 4) proposed
cracking down on price-gouging, while Orange (D-Ward 5)
called for a 90-day break on city gas taxes.
Then again, maybe
Fenty and Orange were
advocating on their own behalf. After all, nobody must
feel the pinch of higher gas prices more intensely than
these guys.
Fenty
races around town in a giant white Ford Expedition,
which, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, gets
a measly 14 to 16 miles per gallon in city driving.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/28/AR2005092800920.html
Battle Brewing for Stadium
Tracts
By David Nakamura
A year ago, Patricia
Ghiglino's two-story,
yellow-brick art studio in a drab, largely industrial
neighborhood in Southeast Washington was worth $654,000
to the District government, which collected taxes based
on that assessment.
This month, the city,
clearing the way for a new baseball stadium for the
Washington Nationals, offered
Ghiglino nearly $1.8 million for the property.
Her response?
"We're not accepting this offer. No way," she said.
"We're definitely going to court."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/24/AR2005092401373.html
Greater Help for Poor, Tax Cut Coming in DC
By Lori Montgomery
Rising incomes among DC
residents and businesses will give the District
sufficient cash next year to spend an extra $21 million
on social programs and to lower the property tax rate
for homeowners for the first time since 1991, Chief
Financial Officer Natwar M.
Gandhi said yesterday.
Gandhi said he expects tax
revenue to climb nearly $52 million over previous
projections for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. In
anticipation of the more optimistic numbers, the DC
Council included provisions to lower property taxes and
increase spending in budget legislation now before
Congress. It also sent Gandhi instructions to implement
the changes if the economy remains strong.
Gandhi did so yesterday, certifying that the city will
have sufficient funds in 2006 to spend an extra $21
million on property tax relief, an additional $21
million on social programs and about $5 million on other
needs, including improving the historic Lincoln Theatre
on U Street NW and cleaning up a gasoline leak in the
Lamond Riggs neighborhood on
Washington's Northeast border.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/22/AR2005092202125.html
Ailing Ambrose to Retire
From DC Council
By Eric M. Weiss
DC Council member Sharon
Ambrose said yesterday that she will not seek
reelection, citing her need to devote more time to
family and her battle with multiple sclerosis.
"I am not running because
it is difficult to deal with a complicated disease and a
complicated job," Ambrose said in a telephone interview.
"I don't flatter myself thinking that the city will fall
apart without my presence."
Ambrose (D), whose doctors diagnosed her multiple
sclerosis six years ago, represents Ward 6. It covers
Capitol Hill and parts of downtown, Northeast and
Southeast, including the waterfront area where the new
Washington Nationals stadium is slated to be built.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/22/AR2005092202126.html
Mayoral Hopefuls Spar
Over Rising Gas Prices
By Eric M. Weiss
Anyone questioning whether
the District mayor's race is in full swing need only to
have witnessed yesterday's DC Council meeting.
The three mayoral candidates on the council used rising
gasoline prices to try to score political points with
voters and to take some shots at one another.
Council member Adrian M.
Fenty (D-Ward 4), looking
squarely into a TV camera, introduced legislation that
would refer allegations of price gouging to the city's
attorney general.
Fenty
called for "swift and decisive action."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/20/AR2005092002116.html
Housing Plan Drives Wedge
Through
Takoma Area
By Yolanda Woodlee
Everybody in the
neighborhood seemingly has something to say about the
sale of four acres of green space and parking lots at
the Takoma Metro station,
and Doug Payton just wants the controversy to be over.
"I have had it up to my
eyeballs," said Payton, an advisory neighborhood
commissioner who also is an aide to DC Council member
Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4).
"I've seen my whole neighborhood ripped in two." At
the center of debate in the Northwest Washington enclave
is Metro's plan to sell part of the
Takoma station's seven-acre property to
Eakin/Youngentob, or
EYA, an Arlington-based
developer.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/18/AR2005091801435.html
Lobbyist Enters Mayor's
Race
By Lori Montgomery
Lobbyist Michael A. Brown
yesterday became the fifth candidate in the race for DC
mayor, casting himself as a political outsider
determined to reorder the city's priorities to benefit
struggling District residents rather than wealthy
newcomers.
Speaking to an
enthusiastic crowd of about 60 supporters outside one of
the few sit-down restaurants east of the
Anacostia River, Brown (D)
disparaged the city's leaders for building a new
downtown full of expensive homes and boutiques while
neglecting neighborhoods and such vital services as
public education. "We
should be ashamed of our schools," Brown said to
applause. "It's a shame because the priorities of this
city are [focused on] getting all the hot new
restaurants in town, making sure we have all the big,
pretty condos, making sure there's a baseball stadium
and all those kinds of things -- instead of talking about
our citizens and the services they need."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/14/AR2005091402415.html
Commercial/Multifamily
Debt Increases 3% Over First Quarter
(To read
more on the debt and
equity markets,
click here.)
WASHINGTON,
DC-During the second quarter of the year, outstanding
commercial and multifamily mortgage debt showed an
increase of 3.1%, or $72.5 billion, over the first
quarter's numbers, the Mortgage Bankers Association
reports. It bases its conclusion on data from the
Federal Reserve Board Flow of Funds.
Last quarter's jump came
close to equaling the standing quarterly increase
record, which is $72.9 million. The total amount of
debt, as of June 30, now stands at $2.4 trillion.
"Commercial banks and the
commercial mortgage-backed securities markets have been
leading the charge in channeling capital into commercial
and multifamily mortgages" says Doug Duncan, MBA chief
economist and senior vice president of research and
business development. He notes that this "sustained
investment" in record levels across the board.
http://www.globest.com/news/379_379/washington/138648-1.html
[ Back to Top ]
AU History Professor Joins
Md. Senate Race
By Nancy Trejos
Allan J.
Lichtman, a Bethesda
Democrat and history professor at American University,
declared his candidacy for the U.S. Senate yesterday,
portraying himself as an alternative to conventional
politicians, including those in his party.
Lichtman,
who has never held office, will compete for the party's
nomination in a field of candidates that includes Rep.
Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.)
and former congressman and NAACP leader
Kweisi
Mfume.
Speaking at North Bethesda Middle School, where his son
is a student, Lichtman
directed some of his remarks toward Cardin, whom he said
he perceives as the front-runner. "Some say in this
election, we must unite behind an anointed
front-runner," he said. "But we know the anointment
model has never worked in Maryland. Anointment is a
recipe for nothing more than a Republican senator in
2006."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/28/AR2005092802390.html
Builders Fight
Height-Restriction Bill
By Tim Craig and Lori Aratani
Montgomery County builders
are stepping up efforts to defeat a proposal to restrict
the heights of some new houses to 30 feet.
Over the weekend,
thousands of county residents received a flashy
red-and-white mailer with a dire sounding message.
"!WARNING!
MONTGOMERY HOMEOWNERS," the front half of the mailer
read.
"This is taking your
property rights away," it continued, adding that the
proposal will lead to "drastic reductions on
improvements" that will curtail a home's "improvement
potential."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/28/AR2005092801078.html
Duncan Is Churning Out
Anti-O'Malley Missives
By John Wagner
Yesterday's dispatch
declared: "What You Can Believe
About Martin O'Malley: Rhetoric vs. Reality." The
day before, it was "Martin O'Malley: The Boy in the
Band," a blistering flier accusing the Baltimore mayor
of "strumming the night away" in his Irish rock group
while people were murdered in his "crime-plagued city."
That followed a Top 10
list forwarded to reporters last week that mocked
O'Malley for comparing in a television interview his
hiring of several police chiefs to Abraham Lincoln's
succession of war generals. In
each case, the sender was the campaign of a fellow
Democrat, Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan,
who has dramatically ratcheted up his attacks in the
days leading to O'Malley's official declaration of his
candidacy for governor today.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/27/AR2005092701842.html
Maryland's Contest of
The Media Markets
By John Wagner and Matthew Mosk
Before he takes the stage
in Baltimore to formally declare his bid for governor
Wednesday evening, Mayor Martin O'Malley (D) will spend
the bulk of the day campaigning in the Washington
suburbs, putting in high-profile appearances in both
Montgomery and Prince George's counties.
The mayor's whirlwind
itinerary is testament to a serious shift in Maryland's
political landscape -- and underscores the respective
challenges he and Montgomery County Executive Douglas M.
Duncan face as the 2006 governor's race gets underway in
earnest.
O'Malley is striving to become better known in a region
with newfound clout in Democratic primaries, while
Duncan must find a way to break into Baltimore's
expansive media market to be competitive.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/25/AR2005092501165.html
Concerns Raised as Home
Sales, Prices Rise Again
By Nell Henderson
U.S. home sales and prices
surged again last month, an industry group reported
yesterday, as Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan
warned that the growing use of riskier new mortgages
could result in "significant losses" for lenders and
borrowers if the market cools.
And some cooling is
likely, Greenspan suggested in remarks delivered via
satellite to the American Bankers Association convention
in Palm Desert, Calif., repeating his view that "home
prices seem to have risen to unsustainable levels" in
certain local markets.
Greenspan's concerns -- expressed in his strongest
language yet on the subject -- were echoed by another
bank regulator, U.S. Comptroller of the Currency John C.
Dugan, who also addressed the bankers' convention.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/26/AR2005092601586.html
Construction to Start on
Condo Project
Monday, September 26, 2005; Page D03
Developers are preparing
to break ground on a $76 million luxury condo
development in downtown Washington.
The 14-story development
at 1010 Massachusetts Ave. NW is being built by
RCP Development Co. and
Carlyle Group of Washington, and Faison Enterprises of
Charlotte, N.C.
The developers said the
163 condos will have floor-to-ceiling glass, outdoor
terraces along Massachusetts Avenue and use of a rooftop
swimming pool and terrace.
Units would be priced from
$400,000 to $1.5 million.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/25/AR2005092501067.html
The Magic Touch
By Dan Rafter
It's
little surprise that John Beal considers real estate the
best investment a person can make.
During the past five
years, the Leesburg resident said, he has bought about
10 homes in fixer-upper condition -- they needed new
hardwood floors, fresh paint jobs, modern carpets,
new windows -- spruced them
up and then sold each one for a sizable profit. Take
an example from earlier this year. Beal said he bought a
townhouse in Alexandria from owners who were in danger
of falling into foreclosure. This meant that Beal got
the home at what he considered a discount price. It also
meant that the house wasn't in ideal condition and that
he had work to do before he could put it on the market.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/23/AR2005092300055.html
Council green lights National Harbor homes
After a two-month delay, the Prince George's County
Council unanimously approved the development of 2,500
homes at National Harbor, the $2 billion mixed-use
development under construction at the edge of the
Potomac River in Oxon Hill. The
council's decision Tuesday came after months of
speculation that the residential portion of the project
being constructed by Fairfax, Va.-based Peterson
Companies, was held up to increase the stake of minority
participation in the project. The
Peterson Companies and The Gaylord Entertainment
company, which is building
the resort hotel and convention center for the project,
agreed to reserve 30 percent of the project's contract
awards for minorities last summer.
http://www.gazette.net/stories/092905/princou191915_31900.shtml
Delegates Take a Tour of
Prince George's
By Krissah Williams
When Prince George's
officials ask members of the Maryland House of Delegates
for more money for local projects next year, they hope
the delegates will remember the air-conditioned bus tour
they took here last week.
County Executive
Jack B. Johnson
and his staff members played the role of tour guides for
the day-long event, which attracted about a dozen
members of the House Appropriations committee. They went
to the county court house in Upper Marlboro, a housing
development in Suitland, Prince George's Hospital Center
in Cheverly and National Harbor on the Potomac River in
Fort Washington.
"This tour tells them
there is vitality to the county," Johnson said. "As they
help us to grow economically, we will contribute more
money to the state."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/28/AR2005092801397.html
Howard Council Chairman
Forgoes Race for Executive
By Susan DeFord
Howard County Council
Chairman Guy Guzzone said
yesterday that because of family obligations he will not
seek the Democratic nomination for county executive next
year.
Instead,
Guzzone, 41, said he will
run for the Maryland House of Delegates from District 13
-- an office he described as having fewer time
commitments.
Guzzone
(Southeast County) had been the Democrats' presumed
favorite to succeed James N. Robey,
a Democrat who will finish his second term in 2006. But
Guzzone said the care of his
elderly parents and three young children prompted him to
reconsider what probably will be a heated county
executive race.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/27/AR2005092701838.html
At
Tysons, Big Just Got Bigger
Washington Post Staff Writer
They didn't have it all at
Tysons
Corner Center, it turns out.
The dominant shopping mall
in the Washington area will open its 362,000-square-foot
expansion Friday featuring 20 new retail stores, a
10-unit food court, five restaurants and a 16-screen
AMC cinema.
Does Fairfax County really
need another T.G.I.
Friday's, Old Navy, and Barnes & Noble?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/28/AR2005092801000.html
Arlington, Developers
Negotiate
By Annie Gowen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Arlington County officials
hope to forge an agreement with real estate developers
on affordable housing to keep the matter out of the
hands of the state's General Assembly, officials said.
Arlington County Board
Chairman Jay Fisette (D)
said the two sides could have an agreement as early as
Wednesday, the next scheduled
meeting of a housing roundtable that
Fisette convened this summer
to examine how much local developers should be expected
to contribute to the county's stock of affordable
housing.
"I think we have very
significantly narrowed the differences,"
Fisette said. "We've got a
framework for a resolution."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/28/AR2005092800789.html
Both Parties See Winning
Issue in 2004 Tax Vote
By Chris L. Jenkins
RICHMOND -- Democrats and
Republicans are mounting aggressive campaigns to win
House of Delegates seats in Northern Virginia by
invoking last year's state tax package, as Gov. Mark R.
Warner's signature program continues to reverberate in
state politics.
In taking on incumbent
delegates, Democrats are highlighting Republicans'
opposition to the 2004 budget package that funded
education, health care and public safety initiatives.
Republican candidates are arguing that the tax package
was bad for Northern Virginia because it didn't bring
home money for transportation projects and the region
does not receive an equitable share of the revenue
raised. All
100 House of Delegates seats statewide are up for
election this year.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/28/AR2005092800047.html
Sunrise Teams with
MetLife on 10 New Communities
(To read
more on the
multifamily market,
click here.)
MCLEAN, VA-Sunrise Senior
Living Inc. entered a limited partnership agreement with
New York City-based MetLife for the development of as
many as 10 new senior living properties. As part of the
transaction, Sunrise
sold one property that is presently under construction
to the joint venture. Work on the remaining nine
communities is on target to begin later this year or in
2006.
Sunrise
will manage the 10 communities, which will accommodate
900 residents. According to a Statistical Brief of the
US Census Bureau, the most significant growth of the
country's elderly population, those aged 65 and over,
will occur "between 2010 and 2030. That is when the
"'baby boom' generation enters their elderly years;
during that period, the number of elderly will grow by
an average of 2.8% annually."
Sunrise
currently operates 424 senior
communtiies in the US, Canada, Germany and UK.
The company has an additional 36 properties that are
currently under construciton.
http://www.globest.com/news/381_381/washington/138740-1.html
Tax Burden Called Unfair; Possible Remedies to Be
Offered in November
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, September 28, 2005; Page B01
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, September 29, 2005; 3:06 PM
Special to The Washington
Post
Thursday, September 29, 2005; Page DZ03
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, September 29, 2005; Page DZ02
Owners Get Lawyers And Get
Ready to Contest City's Offers
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 25, 2005; Page C01
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 23, 2005; Page B08
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 23, 2005; Page B08
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 21, 2005; Page B08
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 19, 2005; Page B02
Son of Late Commerce Secretary Vows to Alter DC's
Priorities
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 15, 2005; Page B05
Last
updated: September 27, 2005 11:37am
Lichtman,
a Political Novice, Urges Democrats to Look
Beyond 'Anointed' Choice
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 29, 2005; Page B02
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, September 29, 2005; Page GZ02
Reaction Is Mixed On Attack Method
In Governor's Race
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 28, 2005; Page B04
O'Malley, Duncan Campaigning on Each Other's Turf
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, September 26, 2005; Page B01
Greenspan Issues Sternest Warning Yet to Bankers Group
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 27, 2005; Page D01
With a Little Paint and a Lot of Sweat, the Right
Fixer-Upper Can Yield a Profit for an Investor
Special to The Washington
Post
Saturday, September 24, 2005; Page F01
Thursday, Sept. 29, 2005
by Tiesha Higgins
Staff writer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 29, 2005; Page T04
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 28, 2005; Page B04
Thursday, September 29, 2005; Page VA08
Affordable Housing Deal May Be Close
Thursday, September 29, 2005; Page VA03
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 29, 2005; Page VA03
Last updated: September
29, 2005 11:48am
