Next Victim in Crashing Market: Affordable Housing
Is New York going to assume Asbury Park’s old moniker, “Beirut by the sea,” so called for the half-built construction projects littering the town? Well, probably not, but now added to the various stalling or halting developments around town are affordable housing endeavors, reports the NY Times. Not all the news is bad — Jonathan…
Is New York going to assume Asbury Park’s old moniker, “Beirut by the sea,” so called for the half-built construction projects littering the town? Well, probably not, but now added to the various stalling or halting developments around town are affordable housing endeavors, reports the NY Times. Not all the news is bad — Jonathan Rose’s East Harlem affordable and market-rate project has secured all its financing, and he thinks he’ll get the money for two more projects soon. “Affordable housing is said to do better than other real estate sectors in a bad economy because government subsidies are available, land and construction costs fall and demand for the apartments rises,” they write. “But because of the toll that the credit squeeze has taken on financial institutions, busy developers like Mr. Rose may be more the exception than the rule.” Even successful projects are plagued by a recurring problem here in New York: there just aren’t enough units to go around. Palmer’s Dock, a building crafted from a former garbage transfer station in Williamsburg, with rents from $398 to $920, saw 13,000 applications for apartments; they have 113 to rent.
Affordable Housing Deals Are Stalling [NY Times]
Dittoburg, if a majority will soon be commuting 2 hours into the city for jobs in the lower echelons of business, or more likely, service sector jobs, then my analogy still holds. They may not be living as horribly as those in favelas or shantytowns, but they won’t be commuting from their villas on the Hudson, either. It’s one thing to choose to live 2 hours away, it’s another to have to. Also the cost for riding on Metro North is the same for the executive as for the cleaning woman at his office. I don’t see anyone cutting the working poor a break on transit or at the pump. The lifeblood of our transit system is the working poor and middle class, who can’t afford to drive, take cabs, or be driven around in Lincoln Town Cars. Bottom line, those who can’t afford to live in the city will be driven to the exburbs. Whatever they save in housing costs will be eaten up by transportation, and time spent in commuting will eat away at chances for higher education, or spending valuable time with kids and family.
Secondly, the people who whine on this site about the fairness of the programs for the lower classes are hardly rags to riches success stories. They have been comfortable their entire lives, and have never known real hunger, or want, or the desperation of the working poor. They may not have everything they want, or they can’t afford the things they see others in their circles get, but they have no idea what it means to choose between paying rent and eating, paying ConEd or buying a warm coat. I have little patience for those with much more, who would begrudge those with so little in life, the smallest of breaks or advantage. There is little fairness in this world, and what little there is, seldom trickles down to the vast majority of those down below.
BRG;
Wow: Greece- lucky you.
Did you read the report I sent to you? If you did, you would have seen that it stated the following:
-the “hard costs” of building a “wood and stick” building in the outer boroughs is from $125 to $150/square feet.
-the “soft costs” are 25% of the hard costs.
Hence, even if we take the low end of the hard cost range, we are talking about a total cost of $156/square feet, plus land costs, plus the developers profits – if you believe that they are entitled to any.
Unlike many folks in this space, I back up what I say with references.
As I said, I await your practical proposal on the topic.
Benson…don’t drag me into something here. Even though I’d love to discuss this, but I’m in Greece right now.
I really don’t want to get into it with you again.
Besides, you still owe me an answer from the last go around, I can send you a calculator!!
Montrose (and others too, like BRG);
One more point. It has become almost a daily staple of Brownstoner to feature a “fugly” house put up by a private builder in moderate-income areas like Bed-Stuy or Sunset Park, followed by scores of posts expressing outrage at the aesthetics.
I would love for these same folks to present a realistic proposal for provisioning affordable housing in this city. Many of you provide daily condemnation of practical and economic realities. Let’s throw the ball in your court, for a change.
In a city that already houses 600,000 folks in public housing projects (complete with free parking in Manhattan), that is currently subsidizing the construction of 160,000 units of “affordable” housing, and yet has one of the highest tax burdens in the country (that is driving out the working class), WHAT do you think should be done? Spare me the platitudes – offer up a realistic proposal.
It’s great sport to write posts every day telling us that you are shocked, SHOCKED at what those in the arena are doing. How about taking the ball and running with it?
Montrose;
Overwrought prose!
If life is so tough in this city for those at the lower end of the economic ladder, would you please explain why millions of immigrants continue to stream in??
Affordable housing subsidies are another form of a government lottery. They benefit the lucky winners of this lottery, and the bureaucrats who administer it.
If the city were truly interested in making housing more affordable in this city,they would focus on two areas( as outlined in a recent report by the Manhattan Institute):
a) streamlining the Byzantine regulatory process that adds to the cost of building.
b) freeing up land for residential use. There are thousands of acres of land laying fallow in this city, because it is still zoned for manufacturing in the delusional hope that companies will once again locate factories here.
spot on MM, love reading your take on things that i usually agree with but cannot express as nicely as you do.
-rob
MM, I disagree. Those cities you mention show what poverty is, not what inconvenience is (which is what most of the arguments here actually boil down too – really living in the back end of Queens or in Staten Island is not such a burden – who of us have not spent hours commuting at some point).
Also your dismissal of those disagreeing with the policy as “not knowing what fair is” is itself not fair. You dismiss the argument based on percieved privileges and ignorance of those who have, seemingly failing to realize that many of those who have were once have-nots and have had the very experiences you cite.
MM…brilliant…AGAIN!!!
Once again, Brownstoner readers prove they know nothing of economics.
Every single attempt by the government to make housing “affordable” has done the exact opposite. Think people, think. If you keep ramming your head in the wall, and the wall doesn’t break down – why continue to do it?