The Whitelaw Hotel, located on the corner of 13th and T streets in Northwest Washington DC, opened its doors November 24, 1919 as a luxury hotel and apartment building for African American guests, one of the first of its kind in the United States. The celebration of any notable event in the African-American community was surely held in the Whitelaw’s ballroom, and numerous black celebrities, including Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Joe Louis, and Thurgood Marshall, stayed at the hotel.

Gentrification in the 1970s and 1980s significantly changed the surrounding neighborhood, and the Whitelaw fell into disrepair. Several for-profit organizations tried to develop it into market-rate housing. However, in 1990, MANNA succeeded in pulling together an innovative financing package in the form of public/private partnership with the goal of creating affordable rental housing in the gutted remains of the Whitelaw. The Whitelaw was the first project that combined Low-Income Tax Credit (LITC) and historic tax credit in DC.

Additionally, the Whitelaw was MANNA’s first rental project and first large project. “We were extremely honored and privileged to be part of this,” said MANNA Founder & Board Member Rev. Jim Dickerson. The Whitelaw Hotel Apartments have 35 units: 5 one-bedroom units, 20 two-bedroom units, and 10 three-bedroom units. Whitelaw residents enjoy their own heating system and dishwasher, a common washer and dryer, access to parking, and handicap-accessible units.