Real Estate Boom: Armageddon Apartments?

Recent reports that the area real estate market is finally cooling probably have a lot of worried investors looking to God, but only Pastor Theresa Garrison of the Church of the Rapture got an early direct line: “Garrison always says that God channels his wishes through her, and when He said, ‘Sell,’ it was near the peak of a commercial real estate boom on 14th Street.” The Washington Post has been reporting on the gentrification of the corner of 14th and T, and the sale of the 30-year-old church was a watershed moment in letting loose the flood of urban settlers. At first — in a nod to the church’s legacy — the luxury apartments were to be called “Rapture Lofts.” Developers then thought about the target demo a little more closely. It will be called “T Street Flats.” Garrison is pleased with the name change: “See, I found out that the rent is gonna be so high that only the rich homosexuals and lesbians will be able to buy this condominium.” And bad news for bargain hunters: In case of rapture, these lofts will remain occupied.

A Boom Giveth, and It Taketh Away [WP]

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