Month: August 2025

WSIC data clean up- 132, 136, 210, 214, 218, 220 and 226 Q St NW

This is a filler post. Feel free to ignore this. I am just cleaning up the data answering the question were these properties ever under the control of the Bates Street Associates (BSA)?

132 Q St NW (lot 100)- Yes. There does not appear to be a deed transferring the property from George Basiliko to the DC Redevelopment Agency (RLA) which happened sometime around 1970-1972. There is a contract between the DC RLA and the BSA (document #7800024140) recorded in 1978. Usually there is a deed paired with this contract, but It doesn’t appear in the search. Just to clarify that the contract is not accidental, there is a deed (doc #8000029035) transferring the property from the Bates Street Associates, Incorporated to Bates Street Associates Limited Partnership.

136 Q St NW (lot 98)- Yes. Once again, no deeds located for the transfers from Basiliko to DC RLA and from DC RLA to BSA, but there is a contract (doc #7800024140). BSA did own it and there is a 1980 deed where BSA sold the property to Delois Fields.

210 Q St NW (lot 71)- Yes, and this one is better documented. There is a 1970 deed transferring the property from Basiliko to the DC RLA (doc #1970011877), and a 1979 deed transferring it from DC RLA to the Bates Street Associates, Inc. (doc #7900028039). That deed was sort of paired with the contract (doc #7800024140).

214 Q St NW (lot 69)- Yes. DC RLA gained ownership from deed # 1972001370. Like 210 Q St NW, documents #7900028039 and #7800024140 are the deed and contract transferring the property from DC RLA to BSA Inc.

218 Q St NW (lot 67)- Yes. In 1970 there is a deed transferring the property from Basiliko to DC RLA (doc #1970011877). Then there is a deed (doc #8000020294) and contract ( doc #8000020221) transferring it from the DC RLA to BSA Limited Partnership.

220 Q St NW (lot 66)- Yes. Deed from Basiliko to DC RLA (doc #1970011877), then deed and contract from DC RLA to Bates Street Associates Inc. (docs #8000020294 and #8000020221)

226 Q St NW (lot 63)- Umm, No. There is a deed (doc #8000029035) transferring it from Bates Street Associates Inc to Bates Street Limited Partnership. I think it is a mistake as it includes a lot of former Washington Sanitary Improvement Co houses. The property belonged to Robert W. Ayers.

Memory Lane: Stairs of New York and N St NW

I’m going through photos that I had on Flickr. Truxton Circle has a wonderful diversity of townhomes. It has modest two story townhomes and large grand town homes.

Taken August 28, 2004 at the corner of New York Av and N St NW.

Truxton Circle’s Public Schools

I’m going to reflect as a former resident and as a current parent on schools in Truxton Circle.

When I moved to the TC I was a single woman in my 30s. The neighborhood was gentrifying. I wasn’t concerned about schools. Many of my neighbors weren’t concerned about schools either. They too were single, retired, or gay or lesbian couples unlikely to drop their DINK (double income no kids) status but we cared about schools as much as people without children could care.

In real estate people care about “good schools” and it adds to the property values. That was never an element in the explosion of house prices in the neighborhood. Proximity to downtown, sometimes parking, and transportation networks were our greatest assets.

Dunbar High School taken December 20, 2005

There were one active school when I arrived Dunbar, and it looked like a prison. I don’t count the daycare at Slater. Cook was closed. Armstrong was a husk as was Langston. I don’t think MM Washington was being used. All the school buildings were problems to be solved. As far as education goes, DCPS should have opened an Italian restaurant for all the spaghetti thrown at the wall to see what would stick. Continue reading Truxton Circle’s Public Schools

WSIC data clean up- 139, 141, 206, 208 Bates Street NW

Silly me, I thought I was done, and then I scrolled up. This post is just more data clean up to answer the question of if the BSA, the Bates Street Associates (BSA) owned the property. I’m going to work with clusters.

139 Bates Street NW (lot 34)- Yes. DC Redevelopment Agency (RLA) transferred ownership in a deed (doc #8000020294) and a contract (doc #8000020294) in June of 1980 to the BSA Limited Partnership.

141 Bates Street NW (lot 35)-Yes. I cannot locate a deed but there is a contract between DC RLA and Bates Street Associates Incorporated (doc #7800024140) recorded in July 1978.

206 Bates Street NW (lot 144)-Yes. I cannot locate a deed nor a contract between Basiliko selling the property to DC RLA in 1972 and the BSA Limited Partnership taking out two loans on the property in 1980. It’s safe to assume DC RLA transferred it to BSA.

208 Bates Street NW (lot 143)- No. George Basiliko sold the property to the Urban Rehabilitation Corporation in December 1970.

WSIC data clean up-14, 25, 30 and 57 Bates Street NW

I am procrastinating.  One of the goals of this year is to write an article and try to pitch it somewhere on the data gathered from this huge research project on the WSIC houses. I think there is something valuable there.

It seems odd but I hate writing. Well for something other than a blog. I have written an article for a publication and it was a learning experience. It’s a different skill set.

Anyway, instead of writing up 14 Bates St NW, 25 Bates Street NW, 30 Bates Street NW and 57 Bates Street NW, I’m just going to mention what I find in answering the question. The question being did Bates Street Associates own any of these properties?

For 14 Bates St NW, Basiliko sold it to DC Redevelopment Agency in document 1971025715 in 1971. Then there was a contract between DC RLA and BSA document #7800024140 recorded in 1978. No deed that I could find.

25 Bates Street NW, yes. Document 8000020294 recorded 6/30/1980 has a deed transferring ownership from the DC Redevelopment Agency (DC RLA) to the BSA Limited Partnership. BSA is the Bates Street Associates. There is a contract that went with this, Document 8000020221 recorded on 6/27/1980, between DC RLA and BSA.

30 Bates Street NW, yes. It too is recorded in documents 8000020221 and 8000020294.

57 Bates Street NW, I see no mention of them, so no.

 

WSIC Redeux- 54 Bates Street NW Missing doc

Looking back I can’t seem to find a deed transferring 54 Bates and other properties on the square from the DC Redevelopment Agency (DC RLA) to the Bates Street Associates (BSA).

Image of 54 Bates St NW from 2004
54 Bates Street NW

So when 54 Bates was reviewed earlier this year, it ended with the whole thing sold to George Basiliko. It may have eventually fell into the hands of the DC RLA and then BSA, but as mentioned before, no deed. Instead, there’s a contract. Between 1970-1973 a lot of people on square 615 sold their properties to DC RLA. The DC RLA in turn had a contract with Bates Street Associates. One of those contracts was document # 8000020221. There’s also document 7800024140, but it seems the first couple of pages are missing.

It doesn’t help that 54 Bates is also lot 814 and formerly part of lot 173. It makes tracing the deed, for me, messy. Lot 173 was in the possession of DC RLA, lot 814 was not. But somehow, because I haven’t found the right documents, it goes from Basiliko’s ownership to BSA. Since I’ve seen properties Basiliko sold to BSA directly, I’m going to guess this is what happened.

Nathan Levin of Colonial Investment Co.- WSIC

In my post about Abraham Levin, I mentioned his brother, Nathan Levin, died of a heart attack while in a Prince George’s County court in 1956. The May 13, 1956 reported that Abraham was in the room when it happened. Nathan was president of the Colonial Investment Company and executive vice president of the Colonial Mortgage Corporation.

Colonial Investment Co. was the company that bought the rental units from the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company (WSIC), removed the White tenants and sold them to Black home buyers. The Colonial Investment Co. existed before the 1950s sale of the WSIC houses. They were experienced with VA and other federal loans and large projects. It isn’t clear if there was any Federal money involved in the Truxton Circle WSIC houses.

The May 13, 1956 Evening Star had his obituary and I’ll copy/ paste it

“Nathan Levin, 58, president of the Colonial Investment Co. and builder of several large housing developments in the Washington area, died of a heart attack yesterday while testifying in Prince Georges County Circuit Court in Upper Marlboro. The case on trial before Judge John B. Gray, jr.. concerned a transfer of land, formerly a part of the old John Deere farm near TB. The land concerned was to have been the site of the projected Hoffman City development. which was abandoned several months ago.

Mr. Levin’s brother, Abraham H. Levin, of 409 Pershing drive. Silver Spring, secretary of the Colonial Investment So., was in the court room when Mr. Levin died Mr. Levin had an earlier attack several years ago but was described by his family as an “indefatigable worker”.

An attorney as well as a land developer. Mr. Levin practiced law here before going into the real estate business.

He founded the Colonial Investment Co. now at 923 15th St N.W., more than 30 years ago. He and his as associate, Nathaniel J. Taube, the vice president, who came into the business about 10 years later, also headed the Colonial Mortgage Corporation. Mr. Taube was president, and Mr. Levin was vice president of the latter firm.

Among the areas developed by Mr. Levin are the Avondale Terrace subdivision In Avondale, Md.; Riggs Park, in the vicinity of Peabody and Oneida streets NW.; Templeton Manor Apartments, in East Riverdale, and Wellington Estates in Fairfax.

At the time of his death, Mr. Levin was planning his first venture in a shopping center, the Colonial Shopping Center on Viers Mill road.

Native of Connecticut

A native of New London, Conn., Mr. Levin attended Georgetown University here and graduated from National University Law School in 1921.

He was president of B’nai Israel Congregation at Sixteenth and Crittenden streets N.W.. and was chairman of the building fund for the synagogue. He also was active In the Zionist movement.

Mr. Levin was a member of Woodmont Country Club and of the Washington Board of Trade.

Besides his brother Abraham, Mr. Levin is survived by his widow, Rose, and two sons, Lawrence and Myron, of the home address, 4705 Colorado Avenue N.W.; a daughter, Mrs. Ruth Wagman, 1863 Redwood Terrace N.W.; his mother, Mrs. Hinda Levin, and a sister. Miss Patricia Levin, both of 1336 Missouri Avenue N.W.; another sister. Mrs. Ann Prival, 6611 Wells Parkway, College Heights Estates, Md., and two grandchildren.”

Nathan Levin’s name appears in the timeline of many of the WSIC properties as the seller and repossessor of the property when it fell into foreclosure. Well, until his death on the witness stand in 1956. After that when WSIC properties were resold and foreclosed, Harry A. Badt stood in his place.

Pencil in October 2nd for Eloyce Gist Presentation at the National Archives

Edited to correct the date

The National Archives and Records Administration’s (NARA) Archives Assembly will host a presentation by M Marie Maxwell on African American filmmaker and Truxton Circle Home Owner, Eloyce Gist. It will be on the 2nd, a Thursday, in October at 1PM.

This post is just to put it on your radar.

It will be in College Park though at the Archives II location. No problem, there is a shuttle from the Washington, DC National Archives I location, but it is on a limited schedule.  I’ll tell you which shuttle to hop on as we get closer.