The land was set aside in 1867 for newly freed African Americans, the first homeownership community of its kind in Washington. The 432-unit public housing estate built over it in the 1940s came down in 2019, after a tenant-led legal fight that ran for years.
What replaces it is now taking shape. Hillsdale Flats Phase I broke ground on 3 June 2026: 90 fully affordable units in nine three-story stacked-flat buildings on 1.35 acres, with 42 of the 90 reserved for former Barry Farm Dwellings residents.
Project Scope
Site-wide the redevelopment delivers at least 900 units, including at least 380 on-site replacement units, roughly 320 further affordable units and about 200 homeownership units, plus retail, a central greenspace and community facilities. Five buildings on the site carry historic landmark designation honouring the settlement’s heritage.
The Asberry, the first building, opened in November 2024: 108 affordable rentals with a 55-plus preference, five storeys, more than 5,000 square feet of retail, a green roof and a Passive House target. It is fully leased. The Edmonson began construction in 2024 with 139 fully affordable units including 50 replacement units and 27,069 square feet of retail, due complete by the end of 2026. Buildings 3 and 4 are designed as six-storey five-over-one mixed-use to Net Zero, at 124 and 126 units with 40 replacement units each, plus 60 rental townhomes across parcels 6, 7 and 8 and an HVAC replacement at the 22,500 square foot Barry Farm Recreation Center.
Hillsdale Flats Phase I closed on 19 December 2025. DCHFA issued 47 million dollars in tax-exempt bonds and underwrote 36.2 million in federal LIHTC equity, with a 12.5 million New Communities Initiative loan from DMPED, DC LIHTC, JPMorgan Chase and Fannie Mae construction financing and National Equity Fund as equity investor. Unit mix runs 7 one-bedrooms, 31 two-bedrooms, 33 three-bedrooms, 15 four-bedrooms and 4 five-bedrooms, serving households up to 80 percent of area median income. Five units are accessible for mobility impairments and two for sensory impairments, and nine of the two-bedrooms are live-work units with hybrid studio space.
Engenium Group is designing a community-wide geothermal system across the whole development, seeded by a 2.5 million dollar grant in November 2023 with Brightcore Energy and 3 million in DC Green Bank financing in June 2024. It’s the District’s first geothermal district-energy pilot. To date the project reports 2,068 construction jobs and more than five dozen certified business enterprises engaged.
Why It Matters
Barry Farm is the flagship of DC’s New Communities Initiative, and the right-to-return commitment is the part the rest of the country is watching. Forty-two of ninety units in one phase is a real number attached to a promise that has gone unmet on comparable sites elsewhere.
The geothermal loop is the technical story. Running a shared ground-source system under a phased redevelopment means the bores and the loop have to be sized and installed before most of the buildings that will draw on them exist. Get that sequencing wrong and the last phases inherit an undersized plant.
No general contractor has been publicly named.
Project Team & Details
| Developer | Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) with the District of Columbia Housing Authority; A&R Development |
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| Owner / Client | District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA) |
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| Architect | EDG Architects; Grimm + Parker Architects; Hickok Cole; Moseley Architects; Studio Laan |
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| Consultants | Engenium Group (Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing; District Geothermal)
Onyx Design & Structural (Structural)
Brightcore Energy (Geothermal Delivery)
District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency (Bond Issuer)
National Equity Fund, Inc. (LIHTC Equity) |
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| Status | Under Construction |
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| Delivery Method | Public-Private Partnership (P3) |
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| Sustainability Certification | Passive House (target, Parcels 1A/1B/2); Net Zero design (Hillsdale Buildings 3 and 4) |
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| Funding Source | Mixed |
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