The 100 block of D Street Southeast just next to the House office buildings, has long had a reputation for being home to fun-loving Republicans.
Former Congressmen Clay Shaw (R-Fla.), Mark Foley (R-Fla.) and Chris Chocola (R-Ind.) used to be known not only for their conservative credentials but also for their fab block parties.
That all came crashing down with the 2006 Democratic sweep, and the partying Republicans were forced to give up their pads.
But Washington’s housing values have more than doubled since 2000, so don’t feel too bad for the former lawmakers.
In fact, you can call them “the 900 Club.”
Shaw, for instance, was able to sell his house for $900,000. It’s unclear from tax records how much the three-bedroom, two-bath home cost when he bought it in 1997, but based on prices at the time, he probably paid around $300,000.
Former-congressman-turned-former-CIA-Director Porter Goss sold his three-bedroom abode, which he’d owned since 1990, for $950,000. Foley, who purchased his house in 1995, sold for $899,000.
Chocola appears to have gotten into the market a bit late, buying his place in 2002 for $640,000. Still, by the time he lost his bid for reelection in 2006, he got $799,000 for it.
For rank-and-file members who are struggling to get by on their current salaries of $165,200, the D.C. housing boom of the past decade has meant that for those who could afford to buy, serving the public good has served them exceptionally well.
One of the best — albeit tainted — deals appears to have been had by former Rep. Jim Ryun (R-Kan.). Ryun has been the subject of allegations that he received a sweetheart real estate deal from a nonprofit group tied to disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the GOP’s former “Hammer,” Tom Delay (R-Texas).
Ryun bought his D Street town house for $410,000 in 2000 from the U.S. Family Network, even though that group — allegedly a front for shady fundraising by a former DeLay aide — had bought the house two years earlier, in the midst of the property boom, for $19,000 more.
Either way, Ryun, who has denied any improprieties and said he has substantially improved the house, is sitting on a golden egg.
The three-bedroom, two-bath brick row house is currently valued at $920,870, according to D.C. property records.
Ryun’s house was at the high end, given its proximity to the Capitol.
The average going price for a house near the Capitol is $750,000 — up from about $330,000 in 2000, according to information from Coldwell Banker Real Estate. Real estate values in the rest of the District have risen even more.
Of course, many lawmakers, particularly in the House, don’t have the funds or the will to buy in Washington.
For members who have come here in the past few years, the housing boom has its downsides, said former Rep. Pat Schroeder (D-Colo.).
“It has certainly priced people out of the market. I think you find more and more members doubling up, sharing apartments,” she said.
Veteran Washington real estate observers are familiar with horror stories about California Democratic Rep. George Miller’s D Street group house.
His three roommates, a revolving line of Democrats, are said to return home after a hard day of handshakes and filibustering to sit around in their underwear, eating Cheetos and cereal.
Then there are the five members who all share a C Street town house, paying little rent ($600 each) and living in bipartisan harmony, united by their Christian faith.
The owner of the house is a group called the “Fellowship” and is described in press reports as a “secretive religious organization.”
So what makes a member want to buy?
“Most want to get a cycle or two behind them before they make that kind of investment,” said Donald Denton, who runs the Capitol Hill office of Coldwell Banker. During the early 1990s, he said, “the whole class couldn’t afford, or didn’t want, to buy up here, so they all rented.”
Even so, buying a house can put a member of Congress in an awkward situation. Members generally want to be within eight blocks of the Capitol, 12 at most.
That means they are looking at spending three-quarters of a million dollars and up.
That can be a difficult expenditure to explain to voters back home for members eager to portray themselves as plain folks, particularly those who represent rural or low-income districts.
As a result, many members simply prefer to rent, said Denton, a former Appropriations Committee staffer who went into real estate in 1979.
“They don’t want the bad press back home.”
An example of someone who ran into trouble is Democrat Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader who lost his reelection bid in 2004, largely because he was perceived as too much of a Washington insider.
His and his lobbyist wife Linda’s purchase of a $1.9 million house on tony Foxhall Road in 2003 apparently didn’t play well with South Dakota voters, who ousted him.
Oh, well. According to tax records, it’s gained more than $1 million in value since then.
Schroeder remembers that when she came to Washington in 1972, she was staggered by the prices but finally found a home in the Northern Virginia suburbs.
“I used to live in mortal fear that somebody would take a picture of my house and write what we paid for it, and people in Colorado would think I was out of my flaming mind,” she said.
The house, purchased for $55,000 in 1972, sold several years ago for $300,000.
For the members who have graduated to, or come from, the Washington establishment, Capitol Hill is often left behind for more exclusive digs in Georgetown, Kalorama or McLean.
“Most of those people who are experienced don’t want to live above the store, so to speak,” said Jim Bell of Washington Fine Properties.
Bell, who specializes in the Kalorama area, said that the average home price in the area is $2.5 million, with some going as high as $10 million.
Denizens of the area, according to Bell, include Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, whose house has doubled in value since he purchased it in 1998 for $2.7 million, and House Science Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.).
Other power players include former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld; John Podesta, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton; and socialite/lobbyist Juleanna Glover Weiss.
For lawmakers-turned-lobbyists, especially Republicans, McLean is the preferred destination. The New Republic called the area “the new Georgetown” and “middle-American nouveau riche.”
McLean residents include former Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.), who has his own lobbying firm (and a $2.7 million home); former Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham (with a home valued at $2.9 million — up $1 million from when he purchased it four years ago); and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whose $1.5 million manse has doubled in worth since he purchased it in 2000.
Other members appear to be taking advantage of the booming D.C. property market by purchasing investment properties.
These include Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), the House’s wealthiest member, who owns six properties in the D.C. area, in addition to her residence, according to congressional personal disclosure forms.
Other members have made more modest real estate investments. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) reports on her disclosure forms she made as much as $200, for “rental income from [a] parking space” in her apartment building.
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