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.
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 were the odd lucky ones who managed to avoid that fate.
Let’s see what happens with 205 Bates St NW:
- December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 205 Bates St NW to Calvin A. and Gladys C. Addison.
- December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) the Addisons borrowed $2,525 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- December 1950 (recorded Jan 18, 1951) Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 205 Bates St NW to Bertha Bell, a widow, and Rosie L. Fincher, a divorcee.
- Dec 1950 Bell & Fincher borrowed $2,525 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- July 1954 Bell & Fincher lost their half to foreclosure and via an auction it returned to the ownership of Evans, Levin and Taube.
- August 1954 the Addisons lost their half to foreclosure and via an auction it returned to the ownership of Evans, Levin and Taube.
- March 1959, as part of a larger property package, Evans, the survivors of the late Nathan Levin, Taube and their spouses sold 205 Bates to Sophia and George Basiliko.
- July 1970, in document 1970011877, Sophia and George Basiliko sold this and other Truxton Circle properties the District of Columbia Redevelopment Land Agency (RLA).
- Prob. 1979-1980 as there is no documentation, it appears DC RLA sold/ transferred the property to the Bates Street Associates (BSA) Limited Partnership.
- December 1982 the BSA sold the property back to the government of the District of Columbia.
This fits the pattern. There is not just one but two foreclosures of both halves, which are then sold to George Basiliko, who later sells to DC RLA, who then passes it on to BSA who then sells it back to DC.