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by Rong Liu
BEIJING, July 26 (Xinhuanet) -- As the Chinatown in Washington DC is being gentrified, the residents of a subsidized-housing complex in the area, mostly Chinese immigrants, may lose their homes if the building’s owners will go ahead with their plan to replace the structure with a pricier one.
According to a recent report by the Washington Post, the residents are facing the possibility of being forced out of the Museum Square apartments even though they have won some legal and political battles.
The Chinatown area, where the 302-unit building is located, has lost most of its Chinese cultural heritage over the years, and the residents of the building are now fighting for theirhomes and trying to keep the Museum Square as an integral part of authentic Chinatown.
As the building’s Section 8 contract with the Department of Housing and Urban Development expires in October, its residents have received notice that the building’sowners would stop receiving a government subsidy to house low-income residents and turn the building into newer, high-end condos.
Under the District’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, residents have the right to buy their building before it can be torn down or sold to a third party. The owner of Museum Square, Virginia-based Bush Companies, told tenants the building would cost $250million, or about $830,000 per unit.
Such a high price tag prompted tenants to sue in D.C. Superior Court, accusing Bush Companies of violating the residents’ tenant rights.
The court ruled in favor of the tenants, who have also been supported by some city officials, but the battle to protect their homes is far from over.
After the Section 8 contract expires, residents would receive vouchers that can be used forsubsidized housing elsewhere, but nowadays it would be hard for them to find such affordable places in the city.
“We have nowhere to go,” Vera Watson, who has lived in the building for 33 years, was quoted as saying.
(Source: People's Daily Online)
