85-Year-Old Project Opens with New Childcare Center After Renovations

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–Move-ins have begun at the 27-unit Ontario Court Apartments where the Jubilee JumpStart Early Childhood Development Center has also been built. Located at 2525 Ontario Road, NW, in the Adams Morgan neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C. the newly renovated $9 million redevelopment project is the result of a public-private partnership with the federal New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program, the District of Columbia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), Jubilee Housing, Jubilee JumpStart, PNC Bank and Enterprise Community Investment Inc. (Enterprise).  The 85-year-old Ontario Court Apartments will continue being an affordable housing project, which will now also provide childcare through the 4,000 square foot Jubilee JumpStart Early Childhood Development Center. The redevelopment included the rehabilitation of 27 homes, including new plumbing and electrical systems, installation of air conditioning, new carpeting, updated kitchens and bathrooms, and a new laundry facility on the building’s ground level. The center will primarily serve low-income families living in Jubilee Housing-owned buildings or the surrounding community, and will phase in night or weekend childcare to meet the needs of working parents who are employed during evening hours. “The project was so old and the units needed renovations, the update was necessary,”Joe Wesolowski, senior vice president, Structured Finance, Enterprise, tells MHN. “The childcare center provides a place for working  parents to leave their children and they can have peace of mind.”The New Markets Tax Credit program, administered by the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund under the U.S. Department of the Treasury, is designed to bring private capital to underserved communities. Using a $9.4 million NMTC allocation, Ontario Court was financed with $8.6 million in NMTC enhanced loans from Enterprise, which leveraged a $2.8 million NMTC enhanced investment from PNC New Markets Investment Partners; a $2.9 million loan from PNC Bank; and a $3.4 million loan from DHCD’s Housing Production Trust Fund. The remaining funding was provided by Jubilee Housing.“Ontario Court Apartments is Enterprise’s first New Markets Tax Credit deal in the District, and we are very proud to be a partner with our long-term friend Jubilee Housing in support of their community efforts,” says Wesolowski. “The NMTC program, with support from the city and local partners, is a vital component in creating community facilities and commercial centers that may not otherwise be built.”Purchased by Jubilee Housing in 1980, Ontario Court Apartments features six one-bedroom apartments, 18 two-bedroom apartments and three three-bedroom apartments for low- to moderate-income families earning up to 80 percent of area median income (AMI), with more than half of all of the apartments designated for families earning 30 percent or less of AMI.