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Metropolitan DC Local Politics
Reply to "Is there a coherent argument that loosening zoning laws will lead to affordable housing in DC? "
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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Many of you are correct, no developer wants to build affordable housing. It costs a small percentage less to build, but the profits are significantly less. Yet, building more does increase housing affordability. For one, multi-unit buildings in DC do have to have a certain percentage of affordable units set aside by law. Often this is “workforce” housing priced to be affordable for people earning between 50 percent and 110 percent of the area median income (about $85k). If the developer fails to provide these units, they must pay into a housing fund. The new units increase supply. [b]While new housing units may cost a lot, they drive down the relative cost of older units[/b]. In my zip updated and gut-renovated homes are up 25 percent in value over the last five years, while unimproved homes are the same price as they were in 2014. With inflation, that’s effectively a price drop. Today’s class A buildings will be class B buildings in 20-30 years. If we want an inventory of those Class B buildings, we need to start construction at some point. It might as well be now (a long-term stability of supply/price of substitutes issue).[/quote] The fallacy in your argument is that upzoning (and upFLUMMING, in the lexicon of the Office of Planning) puts pressure on these older buildings as they become juicy targets for developers to tear them down and build more market rate, typically upscale housing. Ward 3 has over 10,000 rent controlled units, most in older apartment buildings. Zoning changes likely will turn these buildings into teardown opportunities, which will reduce the supply of affordable housing, not increase it.[/quote] OMG again this fixation on rent controlled units in Ward 3. Please spell out why this would happen? The proposed upzoning in most cases is modest - [b]it doesn't take buildings that are 3 stories and suddenly put them in high density zones where you could build a 12 story building[/b]. But in a situation where that did happen the IZ units (which unlike rent control units are actually income screened) [b]would almost certainly be greater in number than the rent controlled units they would replace.[/b] But here is the thing and this is why we aren't going to lose these buildings & units - by law developers have to include the same number of rent control units in any new building. With a presumed one class upzoning of the lot there is probably no circumstance in which a developer is going to tear down a paid off 5 story building to replace it with an expensive new 7 story building that must keep the same number of units. This fetishization about rent contol units in Ward 3 is both bizarre and ignorant.[/quote] What is proposed and planned in the Cleveland Park neighborhood undercuts your assertions. OP proposes to allow 12, even 13 story buildings in the CP historic district, where one to three story buildings predominate. Also, a current building on Connecticut Avenue with all rent controlled units is being emptied out and expanded, with 12 or 14 rent controlled units being eliminated and only 2 IZ units added. A good example of "smart growth math." [/quote] Not true and not true. The building you are presumably referencing actually retained its rent control units, as required by law: https://anc3c.org/documents/2019-004-resolution-regarding-historic-preservation-review-board-application-for-3432-connecticut-ave-nw/[/quote]
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