Montgomery County used its legal right of first refusal to pave the way for the nonprofit Enterprise Community Development to purchase a 345-unit apartment complex in Aspen Hill for $67 million.
By using its right of first refusal to purchase the Westchester West Apartments on Hewitt Avenue, the county had 30 days to find a nonprofit willing to purchase the property before a real estate developer could bid for the property.
As part of the terms with the county, Enterprise agreed to not raise rents by more than 3% annually on the affordable housing units during the next five years. A private developer could have raised rates higher than that, according to County Executive Marc Elrich.
The county only has voluntary rent guidelines it suggests to landlords. “The bulk of the landlords abide by the voluntary guidelines, but not all of them do,” Elrich said.
Enterprise also agreed not to evict any current tenants unless they are guilty of a lease violation. This avoids the possibility of a new owner coming in and evicting residents to then charge higher rents, Elrich said.
According to Councilmember Natali Fani-Gonzalez, one of the first phone calls she received after her swearing came from Action in Montgomery requesting a meeting about impending rent increases at Westchester West Apartments.
Together, they set up a meeting “completely in Spanish,” to discuss the issue, which eventually led to Enterprise’s purchase.
“Immigrant woman specifically, when they organize, they win,” Fani-Gonzalez said. Enterprise’s purchase of these apartments shows that “Montgomery County won’t hold you down” even if you don’t speak English and regardless of your immigration status, she said.
Matthew Crossley, senior manager with Enterprise, called the purchase “a great opportunity for us,” adding, “We like being part of the community.”
Affordable housing “is a top priority of our administration,” Elrich said during his weekly news conference, adding he favors rent stabilization.
There are 50,000 households in the county with annual earnings of less than $50,000, Elrich said. Those households are spending between 50 and 60% of their income on rent.
The county not only needs to add more affordable units, it also needs to keep the current affordable units it has now. It has fewer than half the affordable units it had in 2000, Elrich said.
“There’s work to do, but we kind of know the path we are on,” he said.
