River East at Grandview | Stanton View Development

The River East at Grandview Condos were built by Stanton View Development LLC in 2017. The 46-unit townhouse-style condominium project located at 1262 Talbert St SE was partially funded with $6M in city funding from DC’s Housing Production Trust Fund, a c. 2001 reserve used for affordable housing, controlled by the Dept. of Housing & Community Development (DHCD).

HPAP provided mortgage assistance for the low-to-moderate-income buyers who purchased units at River East at Grandview.

As The Washington Post reported this week, homeowners, some formerly homeless, are being forced to evacuate after flaws in the structures made the units uninhabitable.

Stanton View Development’s website touts their core values as “providing superior service to our clients, putting safety first, creating opportunities for our people, delivering exceptional work, fostering innovation, acting with integrity, and strengthening our communities.”  According to DCRA SCOUT documents, the company has taken advantage of tax incentive  “Opportunity Zones” in the past. The executive board–who ironically wouldn’t show their faces on their own Team page–is headed by CEO Jerry Vines, who claims “over 20+ years of experience in the financial services industry” with focus on investment banking and private equity sectors. Information, resumes and records on all the “leaders” at Stanton View Development is scarce online, begging the question “how are Opportunity Zone developers screened and chosen in the District of Columbia?” The SV team is listed on their website as:

Jerry Vines, Chief Executive Officer
Donte Lee, Chief Operating Officer
Jeremiah Allen, Controller
Andrew Battle, Senior VP of Operations
Kimmel Daniel, Division manager of Construction
Delbert Mixon, Purchasing Manager
William Hayes, Construction Verification Manager

Of course SV Co. developed River East at Grandview under LLC protection, and according to DC Line, “Stanton View Development and River East filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year. The District, through the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), successfully blocked the company from claiming warranty insurance money and using it for its reorganization. Those funds — about $436,000 — could go to the condo association. That won’t be enough. About $5.3 million is needed to remedy structural and foundation defects, according to court records.

Stanton View is also responsible for developing/building Holly Springs, their newest project in Capitol Heights, MD; Gainesvill Court, Park 22, and Piatanza Row, all in DC; and Adams Row in Woodridge and DC. Their full list of projects include:

  • Silver Hill Estates
  • Good Meadows
  • Sable Point
  • Pleasant Park
  • Delph’s Addition Mariton Westwood Reserve
  • Foster Overlook Townhomes GanntAcres
  • Holy Glen
  • Federal Springs
  • Ventura Woods
  • Monterey Park
  • Stanton View Townhomes
  • Grandview Estates
  • Parkside Townhomes
  • Gainesville Court
  • Adams Row
  • Holly Springs (www.hollyspringnorth.com
  • Amber Overlook
  • Gateview
  • Piatanza Woods & Brooke Summit
  • Glenarden Hills
  • Green Castle

This disturbing article details the conflict of interest that occurs between DCHD, the DC AG and those they are supposed to ultimately protect and assist; the homebuyers/homeowners being harmed in this scenario:

“…there wasn’t any warranty, although DC law required the developer to purchase a surety bond that was at least 10% of the cost of the property. It was DHCD’s responsibility to enforce that requirement. It failed to do so, even though Stanton View had received more than $6 million from the city’s Housing Production Trust Fund.  Stanton View wasn’t made to buy the warranty bond until two years after the project was completed and only after the women sought assistance from DHCD, according to the lawsuit.”

The DC Office of the Attorney General has indicated to the courts that it will represent the DHCD; it is the official legal representative for every government agency.

To add a slap in the face to injury, the DCRA,  required by law to approve all construction, particularly structural work, before issuing a certificate of occupancy, did not take any responsibility, instead the agency cited the homeowner who complained to them for housing violations carrying more than $8,000 in fines, fees and penalties. An Office of Administrative Hearings judge ordered the DCRA to work out a solution and the agency ultimately dropped its case, according to the lawsuit.

DC’s fiscal year 2022 budget allots $400 million to the Housing Production Trust Fund to build and preserve affordable housing, as well as an additional $42 million for project-sponsor vouchers to help low-income residents​.

Word to the wise for new construction home buyers in DC: You can’t trust DC agencies to vet developers, enforce code or properly inspection projects. As your homeowner boards take over from developers, follow these steps to protect your interests.

In our opinion, DC housing regulations should require developers of 4+ unit new construction projects to allow home buyers under contract to perform pre-drywall inspections by home inspectors and structural engineers before and after their right-of-rescission expires. Doing so would lessen the their reliance on agency inspectors and prevent many of these types of situations.

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