VNSTA receives first results from FOIA request for information about August 16 fire

D.C. Fire & EMS has provided VNSTA with a partial response to its August 18 Freedom of Information Act request concerning the August 16 fire in the West Building at 3003 Van Ness.

The fire incident report confirms that firefighters discovered an actual fire in the building. It also shows that several Fire Marshal units responded and remained at 3003 Van Ness for several hours, and that the incident was referred to the Metropolitan Police Department.

The response is only partial. VNSTA has not yet received the Fire Marshal or investigative records, and the official cause of the fire remains unknown. It is also not yet known whether investigators concluded that arson or fireworks were involved, or whether FEMS identified any problems with the building's alarm, sprinkler, ventilation, or other life-safety systems.

The records provided so far also do not address concerns about elderly residents or residents with disabilities who were forced to evacuate and then had difficulty returning to their apartments.

VNSTA has followed up with the FEMS FOIA office and will report further when additional records are received.

Security doors still broken after more than FOUR years

On September 4, the tenant association conducted another informal inspection of security doors at 3003 Van Ness. We found that as in many previous inspections over the past four years, several of the security doors leading from the underground garages to the main buildings were broken. We had reported problems with all of those doors many times in the past.

Video evidence of these broken doors, which can be opened without a fob, is shown below. The tenant association has recorded and posted almost 150 similar videos taken over the past four years on its YouTube channel. Despite this overwhelming evidence of security vulnerabilities at 3003 Van Ness, Equity Residential has failed to repair these doors using commercial-grade materials. Throughout this period, it has been relatively easy for intruders to enter 3003 Van Ness.

In 2022, the DC Metropolitan District Police asked the DC Attorney General to consider prosecuting the owner or manager of 3003 Van Ness under the Nuisance Abatement Act because of chronic security problems at 3003 Van Ness.

This door is almost always broken, allowing intruders to easily enter the West building of 3003 Van Ness near the gym. This has been reported many times to management.

Door N has been almost continuously broken for several years, allowing easy access into 3003 Van Ness from the underground garages. This has been repeatedly reported to Equity Residential management.

Management made an effort to use stronger reinforcement on the lock mechanism of this door, but it is broken again, with the doors misaligning so they don’t lock.

This door is frequently broken, so it is easy to enter the West building here. This time it has been propped open by someone. Staff doesn’t patrol the building frequently enough to close this security vulnerability.

Equity Residential Seeks Dismissal of VNSTA TOPA Challenge

Equity Residential has filed a Motion to Dismiss the Van Ness South Tenants Association’s challenge to Equity’s claim that the proposed transfer of ownership involving 3003 Van Ness is exempt from the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA).

Equity argues that VNSTA lacks standing to challenge the transfer of ownership to Vivmark Residential, the new company resulting from the merger of Equity Residential and AvalonBay. It also argues on the merits that the transaction is not a “sale” under TOPA because Equity owns interests in numerous properties and 3003 Van Ness is not its “sole or principal asset.”

VNSTA disputes both arguments. Equity’s own Notice of Transfer states that it owns approximately 97.6% of Smith Property Holdings Van Ness LP that owns 3003 Van Ness, that former AvalonBay shareholders are expected to own the majority of the combined company after the merger, and that the transaction assigns approximately $111.5 million to the ownership interests associated with 3003 Van Ness.

VNSTA will file a response opposing Equity’s request for dismissal and asking that its TOPA challenge be heard. The deadline for the filing is September 25.

Attorney Richard W. Luchs of Greenstein DeLorme & Luchs, who for decades has handled TOPA cases and sought ways around TOPA for industry interests, will represent Equity Residential.

Read Equity Residential’s Motion to Dismiss.

VNSTA files FOIA request concerning August 16 fire in West building

On August 18, the Van Ness South Tenants Association filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the D.C. government seeking records concerning the August 16 fire in the West Building at 3003 Van Ness.

The request seeks the fire incident report and records concerning the origin and cause of the fire, including whether investigators considered accidental, suspicious, incendiary/arson, or fireworks-related causes. It also seeks records from the Fire Investigations Branch or Office of the Fire Marshal.

VNSTA additionally requested records concerning the operation of the West Building fire alarm, which reportedly shut off after approximately ten minutes; any fire-code or life-safety problems involving the alarm, sprinkler, ventilation, or fire-separation systems; and the evacuation of residents, including assistance provided to residents who needed help leaving or returning to their apartments.

D.C. Fire and EMS respond to fire in West building of 3003 Van Ness

After 10:00 pm on August 16, fire alarms go off in the West building of 3003 Van Ness. Smoke fills the hallways in the lower floors.

D.C. Fire and EMS responded to 3003 Van Ness shortly after 10:25 p.m. The fire appears to have started in or near a trash room on the ground floor. The fire is extinguished.

Some residents evacuated the building, but others did not because there have been dozens of false alarms at 3003 Van Ness in recent years.

It is unclear whether the fire was deliberately set.

Only one elevator working in the 11-story South building

Since Wednesday, August 5th, there has been only one working elevator in 11-story South building of 3003 Van Ness. One of the other two elevators is being replaced, and the other is out of service. .

The residents of more than 275 apartments count on those elevators to reach their units. They have been forced to endure long waits for an open space in the one remaining elevator, or they have trudged up and down stairs to enter or exit the building. Some older residents and those with physical disabilities have been virtually confined to their units.

Tenants have complained repeatedly to Equity Residential management about the situation. In fact, they have been trying for years to get the company to replace the elevators — which Equity finally began this year. However, progress has been glacially slow, and Equity has made little effort to keep the remaining elevators in service, or to minimize the impact of other uses of the remaining elevators.

Some previous residents became so unhappy about the elevator situation at 3003 Van Ness that they moved out of the building.

Tenant association challenges Equity's proposed transfer of ownership of 3003 Van Ness

The Van Ness South Tenants Association today filed a Petition for Declaratory Relief to the DC Department of Housing and Community Development, challenging Equity Residential’s claim that it can transfer ownership interests associated with 3003 Van Ness without giving residents their legal right to consider purchase of the property via the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA). Under TOPA, when an apartment building is put up for sale, a tenant association general must be given the first opportunity to purchase it.

The introduction to the Petition states:

“The Van Ness South Tenants Association and Harry Gural, individually, hereby challenge Equity Residential’s claim that the proposed transfer of ownership interests associated with the 625-unit apartment complex at 3003 Van Ness Street, NW, does not constitute a sale under the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA). If Equity’s claimed exemption is upheld, residents will be denied the rights that TOPA provides when an apartment building is sold.”

The apartment building at 3003 Van Ness is owned by Smith Property Holdings Van Ness, a limited partnership. Smith is owned by another company, which is owned by another, which is owned by another, which is owned by another, which is owned by another (etc.), which is owned by Equity Residential.

Equity Residential is undergoing is undergoing a. merger with AvalonBay Communities, which will together form a rental housing giant under the name Vivmark Residential. Equity hopes to transfer ownership to the newly merged company, assigning a value of $111 million to the property, with current AvalonBay shareholders owning the majority of shares in the merged company. Nevertheless, Equity claims that the transfer is not a sale.

The Van Ness South Tenants Association’s Petition argues that the transaction constitutes a sale under TOPA and that residents therefore must be afforded the rights provided under the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act.

Read the Petition for Declaratory Relief.

Tenant association files notice of intent to challenge Equity's proposed transfer of ownership

The Van Ness South Tenants Association today filed a Notice of Intent to File Petition of Relief with the DC Department of Housing and Community Development. The notice announces the tenant association’s intention of challenging Equity Residential’s proposed transfer of the ownership rights of 3003 Van Ness, which Equity claims is not a sale under the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA).

Tenant associations often use their TOPA rights to negotiate for for better living conditions. Given the serious and chronic problems residents of 3003 Van Ness have experienced under Equity Residential’s management, they hope to see substantial improvements - whether under a new owner, or if they purchase the building themselves.

The Notice of Intent to File Petition of Relief states:

“The Van Ness South Tenants Association hereby gives notice of its intent to file a timely Petition for Relief challenging the claimed exemption from the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) contained in the Notice of Transfer of Ownership Interest dated June 10, 2026 (attached).”

“We believe that the claimed exemption from TOPA raises substantial questions regarding whether the proposed transaction constitutes a sale under the Rental Housing Conversion and Sale Act.”

Read the entire Notice of Intent to File Petition of Relief.

Equity Residential announces that it plans to transfer ownership of 3003 Van Ness

Equity Residential today placed Notices of Transfer of Ownership Interest in front of the apartment doors of residents of 3003 Van Ness, announcing that it plans to transfer ownership of the building to the new company that will be formed as the result of Equity’s planned merger with AvalonBay Communities. Residents were largely suprised and puzzled by the meaning of the announcement.

3003 Van Ness is actually owned by Smith Property Holdings Van Ness, a limited partnership. Equity owns layers of companies that ultimately own Smith. Equity tells the tenant association that the proposed transfer of ownership interests in 3003 Van Ness is just a formality.

However, the Notices of Transfer distributed to residents today actually is announcement that Equity is claiming an exemption from the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, a DC law which states that a tenant association generally must be given an opportunity to purchase an apartment property before it is sold.

The Van Ness South Tenants Association plans to study the Notice of Transfer to see if the proposed transfer actually qualifies for an exemption from TOPA.

Read Equity Residential’s June 10, 2026 Notice of Transfer of Ownership Interest.

Serious elevator problems continue at 3003 Van Ness

Residents report that this evening NONE of the three elevators in the 11-story South building are working at 3003 Van Ness.

Tenants yesterday reported that only one of four elevators in the 11-story West building were working.

Also yesterday, a resident reported that he was stuck inside an elevator for about 10 minutes — the doors would not open. Such situations have also occurred in the past.

The Van Ness South Tenants Association has asked Equity Residential repeatedly over many years to repair the elevators in both buildings adequately so they were reliably, but for years Equity has refused. Earlier in 2025, the company announced that it would replace all of the elevators at 3003 Van Ness, but no specific timetable has been given.

Meanwhile, residents who are paying more than $2,000 per month in rent — in many cases much more — are forced to deal with frequent outages and have to climb up to 11 floors to reach their apartments.

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Friday December 5th update — the elevators in the South building and most elevators in the West building are working again.