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. In 1956 Nathan Levin died and Colonial Inv. Co. vice president Harry A. Badt took his place in the foreclosure paperwork. 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 22 Bates St NW:
- January 1951 Evans, Levin and Taube sold one-half of 22 Bates NW to Rollie W. and Rosalee V. Moore.
- Jan 1951 Moores borrowed $3,125 from Colonial Investment Co. favorite trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- January 1951 Evans, Levin, and Taube sold the other half of 22 Bates St NW to Ernest D. and Mary M. Peeples.
- Jan 1951 the Peeples borrowed $3,125 from trustees Abraham H. Levin and Robert G. Weightman.
- August 1958 the Moores lost their half to foreclosure and it was repossessed by Badt, Evans, and Taube through an auction.
- August 1958 Harry and Jennie Badt sold/ transferred their interest in this and other properties to the survivors of Nathan Levin.
- June 1959 (doc #1959024641), as part of a large property package, Badt, Evans, Taube, Nathan Levin’s survivors, and their spouses sold half of 22 Bates to Sophia and George Basiliko.
- April 1960 the Peeples lost their half to foreclosure and via an auction it was returned to Badt, Evans, and Taube.
- April 1960 Harry and Jennie Badt sold/ transferred their interest in this and other properties to the survivors of Nathan Levin.
- August 1960 the Evans, Taube, the N. Levin survivors and their spouses sold their half of 22 Bates to George Basiliko.
- Between 1970-1973, when Basiliko paid off four loans, there is no document located but ownership went from Basiliko to the DC Redevelopment Agency (RLA).
- July 1980 DC RLA entered into a contract (doc # 7800024140) with Bates Street Associates (BSA), Incorporated and usually this is paired with a deed that was not listed.
There were two foreclosures, they were not resold to home owners, but instead slum landlord Geo. Basiliko. The documentation is not great but I see that it went from Basiliko to the DC RLA and then BSA.