WASHINGTON, DC-Citi Community Capital and New York City-based Jonathan Rose Cos. has acquired the four-acre Channel Square Apartments development in Southwest Washington, DC for $35.2 million and plans to convert the complex into a more environmentally sustainable community.

The purchase of the 223-unit apartment complex was backed by the Rose Green Cities Fund, a $75-million initiative launched last year by Citi and Rose, according to the Washington Post.

Jonathan Rose, president and founder of the Jonathan Rose, said that the escalating costs of housing in the Washington, DC area, put the district on the list of four markets he is now focusing on to build and preserve housing. The other markets are Chicago, Newark and Fairfield County, CT.

“What's interesting about the strategy is these are very different markets and they have very different conditions,” Rose said. “One of the things we've observed in Washington, D.C., is that there are many areas of Washington where the market is rapidly improving and gentrification is happening and there is a rapid drop in affordability. So the focus is really on preservation.” See story in the Washington Post.