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D.C. real estate deal has ties to investor convicted of fraud
 and Council Member Tommy Wells, chair of the human services committee, last week blocked automatic ratification of a real estate contract.','pp'))
(File photo)
D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray (above) and Council Member Tommy Wells, chair of the human services committee, last week blocked automatic ratification of a real estate contract. A $2.7 million deal between the District and a convicted real estate swindler and his family is raising red flags among D.C. Council members, who are questioning the purchase of an apartment complex that the city wants to transform into residences for the homeless. Council Chairman Vincent Gray and Council Member Tommy Wells, chair of the human services committee, last week blocked automatic ratification of the contract with 1500 Eaton Road LLC by introducing a resolution that kicked off a 45-day review period. The building is slated to house residents of the much-maligned D.C. Village emergency homeless shelter. Questions have surfaced about the purchase price for the 28-unit complex at 4300-4304 12th St. SE, the condition of the structure and its listed owner — a limited liability company whose managers include John R. Spicer, a real estate investor and broker who in 1989 admitted to defrauding the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The company’s other managers include Spicer’s wife and son. “We’ve got a lot of questions about why we’re dealing with him,” Wells said. Spicer pleaded guilty to a single count of interstate transportation of money obtained by fraud. He was sentenced to four months in jail and was fined $339,000. According to court documents, Spicer overstated or invented down payments made by low-income homebuyers, who then used the information to obtain HUD-backed mortgages for residences Spicer owned or for sales he brokered. The history is disconcerting, Wells said, but “it’s why we have council oversight.” Spicer, who did not return calls for comment, bought the property for $1.88 million last December. He’s looking at nearly a $1 million profit for a property held less than 10 months. Mayor Adrian Fenty delivered the contract to Gray on Aug. 14, writing that acquisition of the property “is critical in the District’s efforts to address the housing needs of the District’s homeless families. …” The city must emphasize permanent housing over emergency shelters, he said. A source in Fenty’s office said officials were aware of Spicer’s checkered past, but said the ultimate deal was a good one for the District. The source said no other properties were available for the purposes of permanently housing the homeless. In a follow-up letter last week, Fenty said that the District has negotiated a “reasonable market price” primarily with Spicer’s son, another principal in the LLC, and the Office of the Attorney General was represented in every meeting. The mayor urged Gray to lift his resolution so the contract can take effect. Gray said Friday he supports moving people out of D.C. Village, but this deal was one that demanded scrutiny. What D.C. will pay » $95,000 per unit » $55,000 per unit for renovations » $100,000 for outside lights, fencing and a basketball cour examiNation dc and poll: What do you think about the shady real estate deals being reported in D.C.? |
