1772 Foundation Grant Awarded!

The L’Enfant Trust just received a $65,000 grant from The 1772 Foundation to rebuild the foundation at 1518 W Street, SE! We could not be more grateful for this grant or for their continued support and partnership.

On initial survey, 1518 W Street, SE seemed to be the best of the four city-owned properties that were transferred to The L’Enfant Trust’s HPRP last year, but as it turns out, the foundation is shallow and is constructed of only a single wythe of brick with a few brick piers on three sides of the house. The existing foundation is inadequate by today’s building code and, in addition, one portion of the foundation has buckled and is no longer supporting the house. Due to these conditions, extensive rebuilding and reinforcement of the brick foundation will be required to make the house safe to inhabit. Because of the high cost of rehabilitation projects like these, and the Trust’s commitment to selling them as income-capped housing for moderate income buyers, the budgets for all four properties are very tight, and this discovery threatened all of them. The plan for the foundation is to pour new reinforced concrete walls behind the original brick walls, tie the walls together, and install structural beams and columns to support the floors above.

These projects would not be possible without the ongoing generosity of The 1772 Foundation. Read their press release here.