Mayor Bowser’s DC Archives and UDC housing pivot: After years of planning, and with millions of dollars already spent on the DC Archives project on the UDC campus, Mayor Muriel Bowser now wants to build student housing at the site instead.
Bowser, in her May 27th budget reveal, billed the changes as cost-saving measures. But archives advocates say the proposed alternatives are not based on any cost-benefit analysis and are unfeasible. You can read more about it in Washingtonian and the DC Line newsletter.
Instead of a single archives building where the shell of Building 41 still stands, Bowser’s FY 2026 budget proposes two facilities for DC’s historical records: a public-facing location at the Charles Sumner School, which already houses the DC public education museum and archives, and a to-be-constructed warehouse at a location to be determined.
The budget proposal also includes $25 million for the continued demolition of UDC’s Building 41 and to begin the planning and design process for student housing.
The mayor’s new push for UDC’s first on-campus housing is also a pivot from previous Bowser administration spending priorities. During a 2023 public Q&A about the reasons the DC Archives won out over on-campus housing, UDC officials explained that housing had been considered for the site, but the money just wasn’t available. “We think that [the archives] is a good alternative to having an empty building on campus” with no money for a renovation, UDC General Council Avis Russell said at the time.
The Rock Creek Horse Center, now under new management: The stables were under a cloud for several months amid reports of mismanagement and financial difficulties at the National Park Service’s previous vendor, and as of February, it appeared the facility was weeks away from shutting down. Then, in May, Rock Creek NPS announced:
Camps, lessons and more will continue at the Rock Creek Park Horse Center. The NPS approved the transfer of the Rock Creek Park Horse Center concessions contract to Metropolitan Equestrian Team, Inc. effective May 21, 2025.
Learn more: https://t.co/jRGHc8uyeV pic.twitter.com/s3NzgsOCnb
— Rock Creek Park (@RockCreekNPS) May 9, 2025
The Washington Post has more on the new vendor and the reaction of some of the Horse Center’s longtime riders.
A local landlord in the news: WC Smith, which manages The Frontenac and Clarence House, and is vying for the right to purchase Avalon the Albemarle, is paying $1 million to settle a rental price-fixing lawsuit filed by DC’s attorney general. It’s the first of 15 defendants to agree to a settlement. Even Reuters covered the preliminary agreement.
A “bizarrely accurate” DC mystery novel: Take this example from the new book, How to Have a Killer Time in D.C.: “The map on the giant screen in the center of the dashboard showed the route we’d be taking, following Tilden across Connecticut Avenue, where it merged into Reno Road and wound its way up to Nebraska Avenue.” Washingtonian did some sleuthing and uncovered the reason.
Social media mentions
Sunny afternoon at the Native Meadow Habitat on Howard University West Campus 🌼 🐝 pic.twitter.com/uZFSSEakoc
— C on the scene (@Conthescene) June 4, 2025