Day: April 7, 2023

WSIC-1950 Sell Off- 132 Q Street NW

The Washington Sanitary Improvement Company (WSIC) was a late 19th century charitable capitalism experiment that ended in the 1950s. This blog started looking at the homes that were supposed to be sold to African American home buyers, after decades of mainly renting to white tenants.

photo of property

Looking at WSIC properties they tend to have a pattern where the properties were sold to a three business partners, Nathaniel J. Taube, Nathan Levin and James B. Evans as the Colonial Investment Co. for $3 million dollars. Those partners sold to African American buyers. There was usually a foreclosure. Then the property wound up in the hands of George Basiliko and or the DC Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA). Then there was the odd lucky ones who managed to avoid that fate.

Let’s see the history of 132 Q St NW and see if it fits the pattern:

  • December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Evans, Levin and Taube sold half of 132 Q St NW to Ocea M. Coltrane.
  • December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Mrs. Coltrane borrowed $3,250 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • December 1950 (recorded Jan 1951) Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 132 Q St NW to Charles O. and Juanita L. Wallace.
  • December 1950 the Wallaces borrow $3,400 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
  • June 1954 Mrs. Coltrane lost her half to foreclosure. Through an auction the property returned to Evans, Levin and Taube.
  • August 1956 the Wallace family loses their half to foreclosure as well and via an auction it returns to Evans, Taube, and new partner Harry A. Badt.
  • August 1956 as part of a larger property package, partner Harry Badt & his wife transfer their interest in the property to the survivors of Nathan Levin.
  • March 1959, as part of a larger package the Colonial Investment team (Evans, Badt, their wives, and Levin’s survivors) sell their interest in 132 Q St NW to Sophia and George Basiliko.
  • Sometime before 1978 George Basiliko transferred/sold 132 to the DC Redevelopment Land Agency.

So all the boxes were checked. Foreclosure, double-check. Sold to George Basiliko, check. Sold to DC RLA, check.