southwest

Real Estate     Highlights     History     Adjacent Neighborhoods
Neighborhood Boundaries     Neighborhood Links
Map of Southwest

Search for Homes in the Southwest
Use 20024 zipcode

REAL ESTATE

     If you have questions about the following data or want more information, contact us at 202-965-3715. If you would like to be included in periodic e-mail updates on this or other neighborhoods, send your name and e-mail address to info@hananhomes.com.

     As of September 30, 2008, three single-family homes were for sale in Southwest, and one was under contract. In the third quarter of 2008, two homes sold.

     In the first half of 2008, 4 single-family homes sold in Southwest. In 2007, there were 6 sales, while 8 homes sold in 2006. The average sale price in the first half of 2008 was $633,150. This compares to $548,225 and $672,625 in 2007 and 2006, respectively. The average list price was $662,225 in the first half of 2008, $560,000 in 2007, and $673,250 in 2006. Listed below are the sales by price range.

    The number of condominiums and cooperatives that sold in the third quarter of 2008 totaled 13, with 5 under contract. There were 32 condos and coops for sale as of September 30, 2008. For the first half of 2008, 28 condos/coops weresold, 91 for the year 2007, and 63 in 2006. The average sales price was $268,703 in the first half of 2008, $329,120 in 2007, and $304,515 in 2006. Listed below are the sales by price range.

    In addition to a handful of 18th Century Federal style townhouses in the Southwest historic district are mid- to high-rise buildings, many of which are condos and coops. In the last few years, a subdivision of three- and four-story townhouses was erected just north of Maine Avenue and to the west of Arena Stage which complement several older townhouse communities dating to the 1960s.  With the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative and the opening of the baseball stadium nearby, Southwest Washington is expected to be part of a surge in housing development. Housing projects in the Southwest and Southeast sections of the Old City 1 neighborhood are being demolished and to be rebuilt into mixed-income complexes.

HIGHLIGHTS

     Southwest has begun to bloom again and the area's many plusses are bringing new homeowners to the neighborhood. Probably most appealing is the close proximity to the Capitol, The National Mall, and the Navy Yard. Across the Channel is the expansive East Potomac Park with its golf course, tennis courts, and playground. The Anacostia Waterfront Initiative is expected to bring a network of parks and scenic roadways and other amenities to the Washington Channel, and the proposed baseball stadium and development of nearby Southeast DC has also created interest in Southwest.

     The neighborhood itself currently offers a variety of amenities to its residents. Two recreational facilities are to be found in Southwest, King-Greenleaf and Randall, with a swimming pool at the latter and tennis courts at both. The Waterfront Metro station is located on M Street and the L'Enfant Plaza and Federal Center SW stations are nearby. Jefferson Junior High and the Amidon and Bowen Elementary Schools are in the neighborhood along with the Southwest public library. Southeastern University is located north of Maine Avenue. Arena Stage, one of the city's premiere independent theaters, is located a block from the river. Crowded on weekends is the waterside promenade with its restaurants, pleasure boat and tour boat docks, and the Maine Street fish market. The Waterside Mall, part of the urban renewal effort, and the L'Enfant Plaza underground shopping mall, both of which have suffered over the last few decades are seeing signs of revival.

     Old Southwest DC that still exists includes Wheat Row, built in 1793 and 1794, which is the city's oldest standing rowhouse group. Two late 18th and early 19th Century structures also standing are the Thomas Law House, which belonged to Martha Washington's granddaughter, and the Duncanson-Cranch House. The Gatekeepers House of the old Washington Canal has also been preserved.

HISTORY

      The Southwest neighborhood is one of the city's oldest and newest. Captain John Smith first saw the area in 1608 and throughout the 17th Century, Marylanders settled in the region. In 1790, Pierre L'Enfant included the site as part of the original city and, because of its waterfront, designated its southern most point as a military fort. Since 1794, Greenleaf's Point (named after one of the city's earliest real estate tycoons, James Greenleaf) served as a fort, military arsenal, and a federal prison. Fort Lesley J. McNair, one of the country's oldest military posts, now stands on that site.

     The river access for more than a century made the area a traveling point for areas south, a fisherman and produce shipping point, and, for a while, a slave trading center. Real estate speculators believed the area would be prime for housing as well as business.  While a few elegant homes were constructed, small cottages and simple frame rowhouses were more the norm and the neighborhood soon became neglected. In 1815, when the Washington City Canal cut the Southwest off from downtown, the area became known as Little Island.

     Both freed and enslaved blacks lived in the area, and by the 1850's the Southwest was used by the Underground Railroad to help slaves escape to the North. With commerce as the area's focus, tradesmen and laborers lived in nearby housing. The Civil War brought growth to the neighborhood with the population almost doubling from 1860 to 1870 and again from 1870 until 1900. Its new inhabitants were largely freed slaves who lived in low-rent rowhouses along alleys. The City Canal was filled in the 1870s, but Little Island was still cut off by the construction of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad. Fortunately, new streetcar lines tied Southwest to the rest of the city. New European immigrants began to move into the neighborhood in the 1880s, in particular, German Jewish families, who established retail trades. Al Jolson, an American entertainer, was the son of the local rabbi. Racial segregation set in, and the Southwest became the city's first segregated neighborhood.

    From the turn of the century until the early 1930s, Southwest Washington was a flourishing neighborhood. It was described as a city by itself, but commerce and the federal government were interloping. Those who could afford to leave did, and the area became known as a slum that was blighting views of the Capitol building. In 1940, Congress chartered a new city agency, the Redevelopment Land Agency, that could condemn and redesign whole neighborhoods, and in 1949 passed the National Housing Act that offered federal subsidies for slum clearance, redevelopment, and low-rent housing. Southwest Washington became the first candidate. By 1953 the RLA began to acquire property and in 1954 demolition began. Opposing residents lost a battle in the Supreme Court which declared urban renewal to be constitutional. By 1960 most of old Southwest disappeared.

ADJACENT NEIGHBORHOODS

NEIGHBORHOOD BOUNDARIES

NEIGHBORHOOD LINKS

Southwest Neighborhood Assembly, Inc.

Map of Southwest

To discover more about current listings
and recent home sales in southwest and
the washington dc real estate market:

Call or e-mail us at
202-965-3715
info@hananhomes.com

Return to Map of Washington DC Area Neighborhoods 

Return to top of page