1339 Green Court, NW
(originally planned for FY 2027)
2026 Update:
As I end my first ANC term, I would like to post an update on the situation that gave me the call to enter public service. In 2021, DC bought the property at 1339 Green Court, NW for use by the Department of Human Services (DHS) as a 150-bed, low-barrier, men’s shelter. The site itself seemed to me to be wildly unsuitable for the purpose, and I persistently asked functional questions, in the following five pragmatic subjects, framed by the future safety of 150 of our most vulnerable neighbors:
1) contamination of the structure by 70 years as an industrial building;
2) alley-landlocked site with no sidewalks or pedestrian access;
3) limited access to firetrucks and emergency equipment;
4) alley lot zoning restrictions requiring challengeable variances; and
5) construction challenges with no space for a crane or construction material.
In early 2025, my persistence led DHS to task the Department of General Services (DGS) to conduct a feasibility study of the property for use as a men’s shelter. No funding has been allocated for a DGS study in the FY2025, FY2026, or FY2027 Budgets, effectively shelving the project indefinitely. In May 2026, DGS confirmed that 1339 Green Court has been removed from the DHS inventory and returned to DGS.
During the entire process, I pledged to find other sites in my own SMD 2C02 (Yes In My Back Yard) for use to address the needs of our unhoused neighbors. I am thrilled that Metropolitan AME Church at 1518 M Street NW in 2C02, on the exterior surface of their historic church, is undertaking to build 27 units of Permanent Supportive Housing for Black veterans, and I have enthusiastically supported the initial stages of zoning variances which have been approved.
What I wrote in 2024:
As ANC for 2C02, I will be a Pragmatic YIMBY for the Green Court Men’s Shelter planned for opening possibly in FY 2027. I believe that the time 2024-2027, and the best interests and outcomes for all neighbors, will best be served by facilitating neighborhood input into the planning, development, operator selection, and operation of the Shelter, centering the men’s safety as our first priority.
I have lived in The Residences at Thomas Circle at 1330 Massachusetts Avenue (which abuts 1339 Green Court on 2 sides), where 152 seniors and disabled persons live in Independent Living, Assisted Living, and Memory Care, since 2007. I am not completely new to the issues of our unhoused neighbors, having lived through the August 2021 – May 2022 violent encampment at Thomas Circle / Green Court alley, including multiple break-ins to The Residences. The Residences did not learn of the Shelter plan until November 2022, mentioned in passing by DC MPD officers during an early-morning altercation between MPD and trespassers inside 1339 Green Court. I immediately began attending ANC 2C meetings, and in early 2023 my persistence produced the Department of Human Services (DHS) tasking the Department of General Services (DGS) to board up all windows and doors, and to install metal gates and fencing, thus at least securing the premises from future trespass.
Pragmatic? The time to stop this project passed in 2021:
DGS provided written notice, dated October 26, 2021 to ANC 2F and Councilmember Pinto regarding the proposed real estate contract, as required by applicable law. The notice provided the ANC with an opportunity to provide written recommendations regarding the proposed contract within fifty one (51) business days. Pursuant to applicable law, DGS would then give great weight to the issues and concerns raised in any ANC recommendations and provide a written response to the ANC addressing those issues and concerns. DGS did not receive any written recommendations regarding the proposed contract from the ANC.
{Note: In 2021, 1339 Green Court had been assigned to SMD 2F08, within the Logan Circle ANC 2F. Based on redistricting after the 2020 Census, Ward 2’s ANCs were realigned and rebalanced to current population statistics, thus in 2022 the SMD was transferred to the Penn Quarter / Chinatown ANC 2C and became 2C02.}
YIMBY? Yes In My Back Yard: I believe that the city is going to use 1339 Green Court for some housing purpose governed by DHS, pursuant to its purchase legislation (see link, below). Yes, this will be, literally, In My Back Yard. I have been horrified at the tone and nature of the protests in other parts of the city about the establishment of shelters and income-based housing, and want to voice different perspectives:
- Let’s center our newest neighbors’ safety as our first priority. 1339 Green Court has never been a residential property—and is completely landlocked by highly vehicle-trafficked urban alleys. DHS / DGS should be accountable to assess basic safety concerns of using this location as a residence of any kind, including fire department access, and pedestrian safety without sidewalks.
- Let’s ensure that ALL stakeholders on the block collaborate and provide input into the scope, planning, development, operator selection, and operation of the Shelter.
Brief History of 1339 Green Court: (source: Wikimedia Commons)
The building located at 1339 Green Court NW in Washington, D.C., was the home of Balance Gym (formerly Thomas Circle Sports Club) from 1996 until 2021, when it was purchased by the local government to redevelop into low-income housing. Previous occupants include the W. F. Roberts Company (as a printing plant in the late 1930s), longtime owner Mercury Press (known as the Mercury Building), Beacon News from the Quarry Workers’ International Union of North America, DC Engraving Company Inc., The University Hatchet, and the District of Columbia Board of Parole. The site was previously occupied by a building used by the Krazy Kat Klub.
The Legislation regarding the purchase: https://lims.dccouncil.gov/Legislation/CA24-0430
According to CoStar Group, a “Washington, DC-based provider of information, analytics, and marketing services to the commercial property industry,”
The city of Washington, D.C., paid $11 million to purchase a former gym with the aim of turning it into housing, potentially for the homeless, public documents show.
Balance has owned the property since 1996, when it bought it for $900,000, according to CoStar data.
The former gym is four stories encompassing 24,600 square feet, in keeping with the city’s search for a space between 20,000 square feet and 40,000 square feet, according to a property acquisition funds request submitted by Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Source: https://www.loopnet.com/learn/dc-pays-11-million-to-redevelop-gym-into-housing/1792233732/