NFL Great Darrell Green Among New Owners Of Distressed Apartment Complex Near RFK

Meadow Green Courts, a 435-unit affordable apartment complex that has faced financial distress and failed to sell at a foreclosure auction this year, has found a new owner. 

The property, directly across the Anacostia River from the RFK Stadium site, sold to a partnership of four firms that plans to rehabilitate the apartments and maintain their affordability, the firms announced. 

The partnership, consisting of Lincoln-Westmoreland Housing, KeyUrban, EquityPlus and RRP Capital Partners, took over the 51-building complex at the intersection of Minnesota Avenue Southeast and East Capitol Street. It acquired the property by assuming the $26M loan held by MainStreet Bank. 

RRP Capital Partners is led by two former players for Washington’s NFL team: Darryl Pounds, 1990s-era cornerback, and Hall of Famer Darrell Green, who played for the team his entire 20-year career beginning in 1983 and won two Super Bowls. 

Pounds said in a statement that he grew up in a community like Meadow Green Courts before becoming an NFL player and playing at RFK Stadium. 

“I’m looking forward to being able to play an active role in enhancing the quality of life for the 435 families that will live in the Meadow Green Courts community while preserving the affordability of the 12-acre neighborhood to working families so that they can enjoy the benefits of the forthcoming Commanders redevelopment of the RFK campus,” Pounds said. 

Meadow Green Courts was previously owned by E&G Group for nearly three decades and was governed by an affordability covenant for residents making 60% or less of the area median income. 

The owner had rezoned the property to allow for a redevelopment of more than 1,000 units, but it didn't secure the public funding needed to advance the project.

E&G struggled financially, as the property had more than $6M of unpaid rent — an issue facing many affordable housing owners in the District — and MainStreet filed a notice of foreclosure in February. It then brought it to a foreclosure auction in March, but no bidders were willing to pay more than the value of the loan, and the trustee canceled the auction. 

E&G principal Tom Gallagher told Bisnow on Monday he thinks the inability of his firm to hold on to this property illustrates the difficult situation that D.C. housing policies have created for many longtime owners.

“It's a very sad day for us and a sad day for the District as well,” he said. “I think the District has a lot of reflecting to do on the way they’ve treated responsible affordable owners.”

He added that he has “nothing but praise” for the new ownership group and expects they will “do the right thing for the property.”

The new owners plan to keep the affordability restrictions, they announced in a release, and complete short-term and long-term rehabilitation efforts.

Lincoln-Westmoreland is contributing an initial $4M to stabilize the property and get 145 uninhabitable units back in commission. That work is already underway, EquityPlus Managing Director Avram Fechter told Bisnow, and is expected to take three months. 

The buyers also have longer-term plans for a large-scale redevelopment or renovation. The eventual plan depends on what financing the owners can get, including funds from D.C’s Housing Production Trust Fund and bond financing from D.C.’s Housing Finance Agency. 

“Clearly, the property needs a comprehensive, substantial renovation,” Fechter said. “We're going to play the financial hand we're dealt.”

Meadow Green Courts sits across the Whitney Young Memorial Bridge from the RFK Stadium site, where D.C. and the Washington Commanders plan to build a new NFL stadium alongside a mixed-use district with up to 6,000 housing units.

Fechter said the RFK plan was a big part of the partnership’s decision to take the asset to ensure it remains affordable as the neighborhood around it develops. 

“This neighborhood will likely see increases in rents and property values,” he said. “And we've seen what happens in other neighborhoods if people don't move ahead of that to ensure there is housing that's still affordable to working families prior to those increases happening.” 

The D.C. Council approved the city’s $1.1B part of the financing for the stadium last month and is set to take its second vote on the terms of the deal Wednesday. The council is also set to vote Wednesday on the Rental Act, a bill seeking to resolve some of the unpaid rent issues that plagued Meadow Green Courts. 

Jon Banister contributed to this story.