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D.C. mayor-elect Janeese Lewis George says rent stabilization tools will vary
Her transition comes as a proposed two-year D.C. rent freeze ballot measure remains tied up in a legal challenge, and local developers warn expanding controls could deter investment.
Presumptive Washington, D.C. mayor-elect Janeese Lewis George says she plans to protect tenants and stabilize rent after taking office next year, but her transition team has not committed to specific measures such as a rent freeze. In comments shared with Bisnow, a senior adviser said all policy options are under consideration, with Tommy Wells, a housing policy adviser for Lewis George, adding that nothing would be left out.
The discussion is playing out against the backdrop of a national housing crisis that has put rent control and rent freeze initiatives in the spotlight. Bisnow notes that a D.C. ballot initiative that would freeze rent for two years is still entangled in an ongoing legal challenge.
Investors and developers in the capital are already cautious about the effects of additional rent regulation. Bisnow reports that developers warn policies like rent control expansion or a rent freeze could further discourage investment, and it includes a warning from Richard Lake, founding principal of Roadside Development.
Bisnow also contrasts Lewis George’s approach with a New York example: during his campaign for New York mayor, Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani promised a four-year rent freeze for the city’s roughly 1 million rent-controlled units, and New York’s Rent Guidelines Board recently approved a freeze on rent increases for stabilized units. The D.C. mayor-elect has not laid out comparable specifics in her platform, and her advisers say she wants input from the real estate community on how to pursue her goals.