The D.C. government has renovated and reopened the Robinson Place Apartments, which used to be one of the city’s most dangerous apartment complexes, as an affordable housing unit for those in need of a place to live in.
The complex located in Southeast D.C. was closed more than 10 years ago due to being unsuitable for residency. People living in the apartments were evicted as a result.
The rehabilitated place was inaugurated with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday for phase one of the return of the Parkway Overlook Apartment, also called Robinson Place. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser took part in the ceremony, along with other D.C. Housing officials.
“We are dealing with the displacement of residents because they don’t have the affordable places to live, so we got to do more,” Bowser said at the event.
Phase one has about 70 housing units for low and moderate income families which are available for residency at the moment, according to a report in ABC7 News. By the end of the summer, 220 units containing one to three bedroom apartments will be available for existing D.C. residents.
More than a decade ago, Robinson Place often appeared in the news for drug dealing cases, and homicide stories, particularly one in 2005 about an elderly lady being killed by a stray bullet while watching TV with her family in the apartment.