We are the 1417 N Street NW Co-op, formerly known as The Norwood, our co-op is one of the last affordable housing buildings in the Logan Circle neighborhood. Our co-op consists of a seven-story, 83-unit Art Deco building that was completed in 1938.

We held our first Norwood Tenant Association meeting in October 2005 to discuss the frequently malfunctioning laundry facilities. During the meeting, we also addressed numerous problems caused by poor building maintenance, such as lack of heat during the winter and a constantly malfunctioning elevator. Shortly after organizing, we reached out to community and tenant advocacy organizations. TENAC and the Latino Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) provided tenant rights education and organizing support. We notified management of the problems through letters and meetings and collected signatures for petitions to bring attention to our concerns. When management failed to respond, we contacted the DC Department of Regulatory and Consumer Affairs (DCRA) to request housing inspections. Over 300 housing code violations were cited, yet no repairs were made and conditions continued to deteriorate. In response, we filed our first lawsuit to compel maintenance repairs and subsequently filed additional legal actions as issues persisted. 

In 2006, the landlord sought to convert the building into condominiums—a move we resisted due to affordability concerns and the threat of displacement. After six years of organizing—including legal challenges, tenant advocacy, and lobbying the DC City Council and the DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD)—we successfully exercised our rights under DC’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA). 

  On July 25, 2011, we closed on the acquisition, purchasing the building for $9.7 million with funding from the District’s Housing Production Trust Fund. We also secured additional financing to rehabilitate our building and address longstanding housing code violations. 

After a long history of advocacy, we converted our building into a limited-equity cooperative, housing a diverse community with members from rich and vibrant mix of cultures, diverse identities, and backgrounds. 

In addition to our 50 year affordability covenant with the DC government, our cooperative has a permanent affordability covenant in perpetuity with Douglass Community Land Trust.