The Aston unhoused shelter will admit its first tenants Wednesday after a year of setbacks that delayed its debut.
The Aston, a former GW residence hall that District officials converted into an unhoused shelter, will offer short-term, private rooms for unhoused people as the city’s first noncongregate shelter. The Aston will open a year after officials initially projected opening in November 2023 after enduring a series of five delays.
The unhoused shelter will serve medically vulnerable people, mixed-gender couples and families with adult children who officials select through D.C.’s Coordinated Assessment and Housing Placement process. Capacity will begin at 50 people, but officials may later increase the number of tenants to 100.
Here’s a timeline of The Aston’s development and setbacks:
June 2023: D.C. pitches plan for Aston conversion
The Department of Human Services proposed at a special meeting of the Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission in June 2023 that the District purchase The Aston from GW for $27.5 million to convert the space into a shelter with apartment-style rooms, which they said would fill a gap in the city’s housing system.
The DHS chief of staff said the shelter would open in October or November 2023.
Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto wanted to give the community time to weigh in on the proposal, so she filed a disapproval resolution to allow the public 30 days to submit comment. The ANC held meetings for comment on June 21 and June 28, where community members largely supported the initiative, but some voiced concerns about building security. ANC commissioners voted in favor of the conversion at the second meeting.
ANC members and Pinto requested that D.C. officials form a Community Advisory Team to solicit neighborhood feedback and add transparency to the project.
July 2023: D.C. Council approves contract for Aston conversion
The D.C. Council approved officials’ contract to buy The Aston from GW. Pinto withdrew her disapproval resolution days after, following DHS officials’ agreement to establish the CAT at Pinto and the ANC’s request.
The West End D.C. Community Association, an anonymous group of locals in West End, sued D.C. in an attempt to halt the sale of The Aston, alleging that the District did not provide apt time for the public to comment on the project.
The lawsuit named the D.C. government and Mayor Muriel Bowser as defendants and requested that the D.C. Superior Court seize or delay the sale. Later that month, GW stepped in, arguing that the locals did not have the authority to prevent the sale.
Members of the ANC failed to appoint two community members to the CAT as commissioners, and community members disagreed on procedures and votes.
August 2023: Community rallies around Aston
About 150 community members rallied in support of turning the former residence hall into a shelter a month after the anonymous opposition lawsuit was filed. An organizer at the demonstration announced at the time that D.C. finalized the sale of The Aston.
The West End D.C. Community Association withdrew the lawsuit later that month.
October 2023: Second opposition lawsuit filed
West End D.C. Community Association filed a second lawsuit against D.C. and Bowser, alleging the District cannot build a medical clinic in The Aston because of zoning issues.
November 2023: First Aston delay announced
The ANC selected Courtney Cooperman, a project manager for the National Low Income Housing Coalition, and Chris Labas, the property manager of the condominium West End Place, to serve as the governing body’s appointees on the CAT.
As members of the team, Cooperman and Labas are partly responsible for overseeing The Aston’s first two years of operation, hearing public feedback and drafting a “good neighbor agreement.” Then-ANC Chair Jim Malec and a representative from Bowser’s administration were also slated to co-chair the team.
The DHS chief of staff said The Aston would not open until the spring or summer of 2024 instead of that month as originally projected because of challenges securing a provider — a nongovernment organization that will run and provide services in the shelter — the ongoing lawsuit between the District and the West End D.C. Community Association and a hazy construction timeline.
December 2023 to January 2024: D.C. officials attempt to dismiss lawsuit
The Aston did not open in time for hypothermia season — from Nov. 1 to March 31 — in 2023. Two people experiencing homelessness died from hypothermia or cold exposure in the District last year, according to the D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness.
Attorneys for D.C. and Bowser requested to dismiss West End D.C. Community Association’s lawsuit over alleged zoning issues. The filing argued that the group did not have grounds to file the suit because none of the alleged zoning policies were broken yet, as the project was in the planning stages.
February to March 2024: District judge denies dismissal
A D.C. judge denies the D.C. government’s motion to dismiss the case, meaning a judge will hear the case. The DHS interim director said the agency did not receive guidance to stop progress on The Aston in the wake of the litigation.
April 2024: August move-in date tentatively set
The DHS deputy administrator said tenants would move into the shelter the week of Aug. 12 or 19, and Friendship Place, a D.C.-based homelessness services organization, would oversee programming at the shelter.
A building manager with the Department of General Services said it was unclear how long the shelter’s needed upgrades to flooring and plumbing would take, upgrades that DHS outlined in their pitch to convert The Aston.
May 2024: Good Neighbor Agreement drafted
The director of the Mayor’s Office of Community Relations and Services, who served as co-chair to the CAT at the time, said the team released an initial draft of the Good Neighbor Agreement, a document that outlines the shared responsibilities of tenants and neighbors.
June 2024: Aston again delayed
The president and CEO of Friendship Place said The Aston’s opening was unofficially pushed from August to October, which members of the CAT and public said they did not previously know about.
District lawyers and Bowser requested again to dismiss the second lawsuit filed by the West End D.C. Community Association.
July 2024: District officials backpedal on October move-in date
The DHS deputy administrator said officials are “still moving forward” with construction and plan to open The Aston in late August.
August 2024: Aston delayed fourth time
The DHS deputy administrator said The Aston is slated to open in late October, instead of late August, as officials completed plumbing work.
A judge denies D.C.’s second motion to dismiss the anonymous locals’ case.
September 2024: Aston delayed fifth time
The CAT held a public meeting to solicit community feedback on their draft of the Good Neighbor Agreement. The discussion centered on local residents’ questions about The Aston and incoming tenants’ use of public community spaces, their anticipated cleanliness and security at the shelter.
Jeremy Jones was announced as The Aston’s director, who Friendship Place officials said has a “great background” with homelessness support systems.
Members of the public commented again on the Good Neighbor Agreement at a meeting where neighbors asked about metrics the District and Friendship Place would publicly share.
At the same meeting, District officials indefinitely delayed the opening of The Aston because the shelter failed a building inspection.
October 2024: Aston’s opening in limbo
The interim co-chair to the CAT said it was still unclear how long it would take to fix building code violations, and members of the CAT voiced concerns that the shelter wouldn’t open before hypothermia season.
The West End D.C. Community Association filed an appeal challenging the D.C. Department of Building’s decision to grant The Aston unhoused shelter a building permit, alleging that District officials did not receive a required special exception or Zoning Commission approval to change The Aston’s use.
November 2024: Aston to open Wednesday
The Aston will begin admitting tenants Wednesday with the goal of moving the entire 50-person cohort into the shelter by Thanksgiving, District officials said earlier this month.
D.C.’s Board of Zoning Adjustment on Nov. 6 denied the West End D.C. Community Association’s request to hold an emergency hearing to postpone the former GW residence hall’s opening. The Board of Zoning Adjustment will hear the West End D.C. Community Association and District’s cases Jan. 29.
