At its Nov. 24 meeting, the Columbia Heights City Council unanimously approved a fourth amended loan agreement for the redevelopment site at 4300 Central Ave. NE.
The redevelopment plan includes between 20,000 and 60,000 square feet of retail space, 400 to 600 market-rate apartments above retail on the east side, a central park amenity, significant infrastructure upgrades, underground parking, low-density single-family housing to the west, and environmental features such as solar panels and rain gardens.
Community Development Director Mitch Forney said the item had been discussed extensively at the September work session and again at the Economic Development Authority meeting on Nov. 10.
Forney said the loan agreement is tied to the reissuance of bonds that the Council will consider in December, when it will approve or deny the bond sale. The agreement had previously been amended in July to incorporate 2026 bond issuance and an increase in the loan amount.
The bonds will be issued at $7,635,000 and structured as permanent bonds for up to 20 years. According to Forney, the Council will have the ability to call the bonds early after the first year. The loan agreement covers a three-year period during which the city has interest pre-paid. The agreement is made with Alatus, the developer of the project.
“The hope is that Alatus capitalizes and can continue with the project,” Forney said, “and move on and pay these bonds off, or is able to bring on a partner within that time period. At the end of the day, if they are unable to after this loan agreement, this is the last and final loan.”
Forney said that if, after three years, Alatus is unable to perform on the loan, the city would either need to restructure the debt, find another path to repayment or determine whether to take control of the property to prevent further financial exposure.
Mayor Amada Marquez Simula said she was encouraged to see progress after what she described as long-running challenges for large-scale redevelopment across the region.
“This is happening across all of the region, and across the United States and probably all of North America,” Simula said, “that just building is really hard right now, financing is really hard. And this will be our last time that we can do this, and hopefully we can get this moving.”
The Council then approved the amended agreement.