On September 25, the Van Ness South Tenants Association filed its formal response to the Department of Housing and Community Development opposing Equity Residential’s effort to dismiss VNSTA’s appeal of Equity’s claim that its proposed transfer of ownership of 3003 Van Ness is not subject to the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA).

VNSTA is challenging Equity’s claim that its merger with AvalonBay did not trigger tenant rights under the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA). The merger assigned more than $111 million in value to the ownership interests associated with 3003 Van Ness, and former AvalonBay shareholders emerged as the majority shareholders of the combined company, now known as Vivmark Residential.

TOPA generally gives D.C. tenants the opportunity to purchase their building when it is sold. But TOPA can be important even when tenants do not ultimately buy their building. The process gives organized tenants a seat at the table and can provide leverage to negotiate commitments from owners or buyers—including improvements in living conditions. That leverage is particularly important at 3003 Van Ness, where residents have experienced what VNSTA describes in its filing as a serious deterioration in conditions under Equity Residential’s management.

The filing points out that this is not the first major ownership change involving 3003 Van Ness. When Charles E. Smith purchased the property in 1996, tenants exercised their TOPA rights. VNSTA investigated the proposed buyer, negotiated directly with the company, and ultimately agreed to waive its purchase rights in exchange for a detailed Memorandum of Understanding providing extensive protections and improvements for residents.

Since then, control of the company that owns 3003 Van Ness has passed from Charles E. Smith to Archstone and then to Equity Residential, while the same property-holding company remained in place. Despite those major changes, tenants have not received another TOPA offer in nearly 30 years.

VNSTA argues that the case therefore has implications well beyond 3003 Van Ness. Vivmark now lists 18 apartment communities in the District with approximately 5,500 rental units, and many other large landlords hold individual buildings through layers of subsidiaries and affiliated companies. If ownership can repeatedly change at higher levels of those corporate structures without triggering TOPA, tenants could lose an important voice when ownership of their homes changes.

At its core, the case asks a simple question: Can ownership of a major apartment building change again and again through a corporate structure while the tenants who live there never receive TOPA rights? VNSTA’s filing argues that this question should be decided on its merits rather than dismissed without a hearing.

Read VNSTA’s September 25, 2026 filing here.

Also see:

August 25, 2026: Equity Residential’s Motion to Dismiss

July 27, 2026: VNSTA’s Motion for Declaratory Relief

June 10, 2026: Equity Residential’s Notice of Transfer of Ownership Interests