Open Thread

“Funny, I thought for a man the nine most terrifying words were, “I’m pregnant and I think the child is yours!””

That’s definitely terrifying if a man said it.

“Brownstoner will be focusing on cats from now on.”

My post from the weekday links thread:

Sorry if this has been discussed before, but I’ve got a question. RE: the city buying failed/stalled condo developments and converting them into affordable housing – How is this supposed to be worked out? Is it being proposed that the city pay these developers their current asking price for the condos that are finished and not selling and then the city sells them to folks at a discounted rate? If so, is there any concern about the city essentially losing money here? (I know, I know, affordable housing is important and money isn’t always the primary focus, but everything is a business.) Or, is the city to buy these finished units at a (relatively) deep discount and then sell them off as affordable units? If the latter is the case, what about that ‘price floor’ I’ve heard some of you talking about (what the banks will allow the developer to sell for)? With regard to the stalled developments that remain unfinished, is the proposal for the city to step in and make a loan for the $$$ necessary to complete the projects and then as a condition of the loan make the developers sell all or some of the units as affordable? If so, where is the city to get this $$$? Selling bonds?
(To anyone who is kind enough to answer my questions, I beg of you to do so in *plain* English and not technical terms…I am so not a finance/numbers person. If I were a man I’d have to get naked to count to 21!)

I was thinking about that Noklissa…lemme go cut and paste…brb!