Some of Shiloh's Bad Press

Here is some of the bad press Shiloh has garnered over the years:

1. April 12, 1990, Washington Post article entitled “Neighbors Label Church ‘Slumlord.’” (see excerpt here; of note, the church conveyed a stance it still advances nineteen years later in 2009: “Shiloh officials also say they are planning to fix up the properties. A few years ago they had wanted to turn one into a group home; more recently they have talked of turning them all into market-rate housing, some with first-floor offices. Now, at the prodding of neighbors, they say they may also turn some into low- and moderate-income housing. . . . "We may not be moving as fast as [the neighbors] like, and I'm sorry about that. But I want to get it done properly," [Johnnie A. Howard, chairman of the Shiloh Board of Trustees] said.")

2. December 1999, Washington City Paper article entitled "The Battle of Shiloh" by Dan Gilgoff (Dec. 10 - 16, 1999 (Vol. 19, #50))

3. December 31, 2006 Washington Post article entitled "All Boarded Up and No Place to Go"

4. May 18, 2007 Washington Examiner article entitled "Shaw Church Fights Local Businesses"

5. May 18, 2007 Washington Examiner article entitled "D.C. Condemns Four Shaw Church Properties"

6. May 18, 2007, DCist post entitled " Shiloh Baptist Church Properties Condemned"

7. August 2007 Washington Post coverage of the lawsuit to oust Rev. Wallace Charles Smith ("Members Sue for Pastor's Removal" and " D.C. Church Dissenters Attempt to Oust Pastor ")

8. March 24, 2009 ABC 7 News story entitled "D.C. Church Avoids Paying Taxes on Vacant Properties"

Shiloh's Vacant Properties No Longer Vacant According to DCRA and Tax Databases

As initially reported at this blog's sister site here, some time after July 2008, six of Shiloh's seven vacant properties were re-classified as non-vacant in the DCRA and Office of Tax and Revenue's database. The reclassification could result in significant savings for the church and significant lost tax revenue for the city (one estimate is $100,000, I guesstimated $150,000). Initial responses from the city indicate the change occurred as a result of building permits pulled for the properties in 2008, however a) I have been unable to find any building permits for Shiloh's vacant properties unrelated to the church's "take the [condemnation] signs down" campaign in 2007; b) I think a permit only gets a vacant property holder an exemption from having to pay the Class 3 tax, not a reclassification to another tax class; and c) I have not yet heard from the city that the church or anyone from the church applied for the exemption, begging the question who caused the change to come about? That said, there has not been any evidence of wrongdoing brought forward to date relating to the re-classification.

The story has made several other blogs, neighborhood list serves, and the local ABC news.

Washington Post Reports on Shiloh

Two articles appear in today's Washington Post about Shiloh Baptist Church.

The first article discusses an internal conflict at the church over the management of the church under Rev. Wallace Charles Smith. Critics are angry that Smith serves as president of Palmer Theological Seminary in the Philadelphia area and claim that the church is a financial mess and spiritually bankrupt. The article quotes Smith himself as well as parishioners and members of the Board of trustees.

The second article is about the city's "unprecedented" interest in holding Shiloh accountable for its portfolio of vacant properties. The article alludes to a variety of factors, including "the election of the new mayor, the changing dynamics of a rapidly gentrifying area, and local blogs that have focused on the church's properties," with an emphasis on local blogs. Smith reiterates the battle cry that the crackdown is due to developers "who envision million-dollar condos on Ninth Street" and "new urban professionals who want to drive churches out of the city." His rhetoric will likely entice a few, but could not be further from the truth. Neighbors would be thrilled if the church made good on its decades old promises about affordable senior housing (assuming the Church could be competent to provide well for those seniors) and embrace the church's place in Shaw.

Interestingly, Smith apparently said that the "church is developing a plan for the properties that may involve turning two Eighth Street rowhouses into luxury rentals to help finance the development of affordable seniors housing on Ninth Street." This doesn't strike me as a viable plan--I cannot imagine that the rental income from these properties would be very significant after paying off the mortgage needed to transform them into luxury rentals. It also strikes me as ironic that the church would seek to build luxury-anything (geared towards attracting folks who can afford said luxury) given all the anti-newcomer/gentrification rhetoric we always seem to hear.

Shiloh Has Wasted $271,081.50 Since 2005

If I were a Shiloh parishioner, I would seriously consider diverting my tithes to a more worthy organization. Since 2005, Shiloh has wasted $271,081.50 in church funds to maintain its portfolio of vacant properties in Shaw. That's $271,081.50 in funds not spent on helping homeless, missionaries, seniors, children, widows, or orphans. That's $271,081.50 not spent on outreach, church planting, congregational life, and facility maintenance/upgrades. That's $271,081.50 spent on holding onto real estate instead of changing lives. This number will grow each year, especially because the city is incorrectly not taxing 1533 9th Street presently (Joseph Martin and Alex Padro are reportedly looking into this), a vacant structure for which Shiloh received a grant of $340,000 from the city to rehabilitate but failed to do so and lost the grant after several years.

The following is a rundown of payments by property as calculated by a neighbor and frequent commenter on this blog, modthinglet (to whom I'm incredibly grateful for looking up, compiling, and calculating all of this).

1526 9TH ST NW
03/28/07 $7,442.50
03/28/07 $940.80
10/18/06 $6,827.25
03/20/06 $6,827.25
09/14/05 $5,111.75
04/06/05 $5,111.75
TOTAL TAXES PAID: $32,261.30

1528 9TH ST NW
03/28/07 $8,521.00
03/28/07 $1,074.95
10/18/06 $7,800.75
03/20/06 $7,800.75
09/14/05 $5,656.75
04/06/05 $5,656.75
TOTAL TAXES PAID: $36,510.95

1532 9TH ST NW
03/28/07 $1,512.14
03/28/07 $12,086.25
10/18/06 $10,952.04
10/18/06 $174.17
06/19/06 $12,378.59
09/14/05 $8,850.75
03/29/05 $8,850.75
TOTAL TAXES PAID:$54,804.69

1533 9TH ST NW - No taxes collected between 2005 and 2007; Neighbors are fighting to get this property taxed and, hopefully, back-taxes collected

1534 9TH ST NW
03/28/07 $6,866.25
03/28/07 $865.91
10/18/06 $99.74
10/18/06 $6,271.59
06/19/06 $7,088.49
09/14/05 $4,642.50
03/29/05 $4,642.50
TOTAL TAXES PAID: $30,476.98

1536 9TH ST NW
03/28/07 $6,050.75
03/28/07 $761.08
10/18/06 $87.66
10/18/06 $5,512.26
06/19/06 $6,230.26
09/14/05 $4,013.25
03/29/05 $4,013.25
TOTAL TAXES PAID: $26,668.51

1543 8TH ST NW
03/28/07 $9,947.00
03/28/07 $8,656.06
03/20/06 $7,274.00
09/14/05 $5,972.00
03/29/05 $5,972.00
TOTAL TAXES PAID: $37,821.061600

8TH ST NW
03/28/07 $11,542.25
03/28/07 $1,441.51
10/18/06 $166.04
10/18/06 $10,440.40
06/19/06 $11,800.31
09/14/05 $8,573.75
03/29/05 $8,573.75
TOTAL TAXES PAID: $52,538.01

COMBINED TOTAL TAXES PAID FOR SHILOH'S VACANT PROPERTIES FROM 2005 to 2007: $271,081.50

It's really astonishing that Shiloh doesn't seem to recognize the opportunity costs associated with maintaining their vacant property portfolio. Hopefully its parishioners will realize this and give to more worthy causes.

Several of Shiloh's Vacant Properties Condemned

Read the saga here.

Click here for Remaking Le Slum Historique's current and consistent coverage of Shiloh's legacy of neighborhood-harming activities (I will try to transfer stories to this blog as often as possible).

1543 8th Street, NW

The vacant building located at 1543 8th Street, NW is owned by Agnes B. Black Trustees of Shiloh Baptist Church.

From Q Street (note the well-kept neighboring home):

View from 8th Street (note the missing staircase leading to the boarded front door):

1600 8th Street, NW

The vacant building located at 1600 8th Street, NW is owned by Shiloh Baptist Church Trustees.

Front (note the winterized butterfly garden planted by a neighbor trying to make the best of this bad situation): From the corner:
From the side:

The neighboring properties are in good condition. One neighboring building is a beautifully restored historic home. Frustrated by the looks of Shiloh's vacant property, the owner of that neighboring restored home planted a butterfly garden on the 8th Street side of Shiloh's property to provide some life and beauty to the blighted property. Though winterized when we took the pictures above,the butterfly garden provides a beautiful habitat for these winged creatures in warmer weather.