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Lawsuits of the Rich and the Famous

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It’s unfortunate, if not entirely surprising, that D.C.’s well-intentioned plan to buy an old dorm and convert it into a homeless shelter in the tony West End is now facing a legal challenge. But the sheer number of D.C. power brokers that have come out of the woodwork to keep the poor out of a rich neighborhood makes this case unusual.

There has been opposition from neighbors, of course, ever since Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration announced plans to buy the building from George Washington University earlier this summer. And the classist concerns raised about a potential increase in crime and decrease in property values are hardly anything different from those that spring up in other neighborhoods where Bowser has sought to build similar facilities. Loose Lips suspects the difference here is that the worried residents have a bit more cachet than your average NIMBYs, considering the wealth and power concentrated in the area.

The identities of the property owners behind the group challenging the project in court, dubbed the “West End DC Community Association,” are hidden—likely deliberately so. But they sure have a lot of powerful allies in their bid to block the $27.5 million sale of the building, located at 1129 New Hampshire Avenue NW.

For one, they’re represented by ArentFox Schiff, a leading D.C. law firm that doesn’t usually concern itself with such parochial matters. And that has fueled rumors about the involvement of At-Large Councilmember-turned-ArentFox lobbyist David Grosso, who was spotted sitting in on a recent Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting on the subject. It’s unclear how or why the matter drew his attention, considering he doesn’t live nearby, and he styled himself as a champion for the little guy in his time on the Council. Grosso tells LL via email that “we are not authorized to comment at this time,” and the other ArentFox attorneys who filed the case similarly declined to comment.

Incredibly, LL hears that ArentFox isn’t the only big-name law firm involved. Scott Morrison, a partner with the international firm Katten, also weighed in against the project on behalf of a condo association at a building around the corner from the soon-to-be-former dorm. He penned a broadside on the topic to Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto on July 6, according to a copy forwarded to LL. Many of his arguments against the project foreshadow those raised in the lawsuit. “The District must evaluate the economic impact that the addition of a non-congregate shelter might have on the surrounding neighborhood,” Morrison wrote. 

It’s entirely possible that all this anti-shelter advocacy is connected—Morrison didn’t respond to a request for comment—but it also wouldn’t surprise LL if there are two different groups of wealthy neighbors itching to block this project. It seems the residents of West End just can’t stand the notion that they may, someday, have to see a person who used to be homeless.

“These people are basically just throwing a temper tantrum over an idea that is bold, innovative, and will save lives,” says West End/Foggy Bottom Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Trupti Patel, noting that the shelter would be the first facility in D.C. to admit people with acute medical conditions, couples, and mixed-gender adult families. “They want to George Wallace this area.”

Like other supporters of the shelter plan, Patel suspects that many of these wealthy opponents have tried to stay out of the spotlight “because they want to save face publicly.” 

Consider that the West End DC Community Association backing the lawsuit appears to have been invented out of whole cloth, created for the purpose of making opponents seem more legitimate and connected to the grassroots than they actually are. (This is not exactly a new tactic in the world of D.C. development, particularly in Ward 2.) The group’s complaint, filed July 18, says only that it is an “unincorporated civic association whose members all are located in the West End of the District within very close proximity” but doesn’t list any other details about its members. Unlike other community groups organized as nonprofits, the organization doesn’t have to file any public documents about its members or financial backers. The group’s listed address in court documents is simply ArentFox’s K Street NW office building. 

For more on the mysterious NIMBYs fighting the new homeless shelter, and how some supporters of the shelter feel about the lawsuit, read our full story online.

Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)



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