The WP has an interesting article on affordable housing efforts in Prince William County, and the seemingly disingenuous efforts to roadblock those efforts.But Supervisor Maureen S. Caddigan (R-Dumfries) said she was not ready to endorse the project in part because it could be broadened to include low-income residents. Also, she said, most of the units would be built in her eastern Prince William district, an area that she said lacks schools and other services to accommodate additional housing….Caddigan also questioned the motive of the group, saying that Greater Prince William Community Development Center was trying to latch on to workforce housing as a way to win public funds for low- and moderate-income housing.”Workforce housing is what we bought into, but now, it’s faith-based,” she said.Under the proposal, county workers would get the first chance to buy or rent units. “The idea is to give the teachers, the firefighters, the public safety employees first crack at this housing,” said Regina Perrin, chief executive of MeetingHouse Corp., a nonprofit group that has worked on creating the development center with Prince William area churches. “If the county doesn’t fund us, we can’t guarantee that.”Those bastards. Trying to provide housing for service workers. Where will they stop?
Browsing Category Affordability
Regulation, housing prices, affordability …
Whew. One of the best parts of the New York Times’ real estate magazine is online. When reading a long story online, a great annoyance is clicking through to the next page (in this case, seven!) of the article. The whizzes at the NYT heard my silent groans and installed a nice feature. In addition to the “printer friendly” option, they have a “single page” option. So simple, and so appreciated. Thank you.
Loudoun & Charlottesville
What I am listening to tonight: Managing Growth: A perspective from Loudoun County Supervisor Jim Burton.Will our community become even more ridden by sprawl and property tax increases? That’s what happened in Loudoun County, according to Jim Burton of the county’s Board of Supervisors.Courtesy of Cvillepodcast.
Affordable housing in C’Ville
C-Ville reports:Councilor Kevin Lynch foresees that with more precise tax-relief in its toolbox, the City will be able to target “low- and moderate-income homeowners who have seen the most rapid appreciation in their properties,†rather than enacting blanket tax-rate relief as Council did in 2005 when the property tax rate was cut by 4 cents to $1.05.This kills me. I wrote about this bill last month before the eminent domain language was removed. I don’t even get this -Harumph, says Lynch: “The Free Enterprise Forum and the realtor group are always in favor of affordable housing and preventing any legislation that would block it until someone asks them to provide it. Then they’re nowhere to be seen.â€Â Realtors are in favor of preventing affordable housing legislation?… Governments have proven themselves time and again to be incapable of running an efficient organization. There is seemingly little direct accountability in politics, and plenty of incentive to create endless layers of bureaucracy and thus, job security for said politicians and staff. How does one explain the CAAR Workforce Housing Fund if Realtors are against affordable housing?
Affordable Housing
This editorial in the WP lays out the workforce housing situation quite well. One thing the author does not do is identify solutions, beyond calling for government subsidies. Having done the math, Lerner, like other developers, feels little incentive to build large quantities of smaller, affordable units for which profit margins per unit are much slimmer and for which always-variable absorption rates must be much higher. Developers also know that affluent buyers are less affected by volatility in interest rates and employment.According to MacGillis’s report, Lerner’s managing director of construction, Peter M. Rosen, offered a concise, unambiguous explanation of the developer’s thinking: “We respond to the market. The company would be willing to build more and smaller units if you guarantee the market.” Fairfax County, MacGillis reported, had envisioned another scenario but “wasn’t exact enough in its demands: It extracted an agreement only for a minimum number of residential square feet, not of housing units.”Affordable housing is not an isolated issue.
Local housing market review
The DP has two interesting articlesDavid Hendrick provides a good analysis of the local market and its prospects for the upcoming year. Charlottesville is unique, for a variety of reasons. One of which is – “Charlottesville is a destination area,” said Casey Dawkins, director of the Virginia Center for Housing Research. “It seems to be the case that there is still potential for growth.”…”Virginia is one of a few states where you see dramatic regional difference,” Dawkins said. “Charlottesville will probably continue to grow, as will Richmond. For the rest of the state I would anticipate smaller increases.”On the flip side, if people cannot afford to live in Louisa, traditionally one of the more affordable counties, where can they afford?
Crozet Town meeting and other Growth musings
I have had a hard time working up this, as the two and a half hour meeting on Thursday night seemed to be so much of the same conflict, same discussions, same end result.For a fact-based account and podcast, see CvilleTomorrow.There was no question and answer session, as those questions posed were directed at the BoS; when given the opportunity to stand and respond, Crozet’s Supervisor chose to remain seated.The best way to summarize the meeting is to say that little was said or presented that helped to alleviate or mitigate the uncertainty that exists. To paraphrase one of the commenters (listen at 8:00 of this podcast) When questioned, the County gives the pat answer of “well, it’s in the Master Plan” yet, Wickham Pond is shown as an environmental set-aside on the Master Plan map … why was this taken from five by-right units to 107 units, the answer the planning department gave was “the master plan is just a guide …… we need a firm plan.”It is hard to answer clients’ (and my wife’s and neighbors’) questions about the future of Crozet’s growth as no one seems to really know…. From a recent (and on-going discussion) with someone who is seeking to relocate to the CharlAlbemarle area from NoVa: If C’ville continues to try to imitate No VA (i.e. concerns centering around Crozet development, developers squeezing in as great a density as permitted—well there goes the QOL and the neighborhood). Again, I reiterate, it’s the “country” of Charlottesville with the little flair of charm, artsy craftsy, good restaurants, etc. created by UVA in downtown and “clean,pure wine country, that is C’ville. If you haven’t been to NoVA lately—come and see us—particularly at rush hour. You’ll get a jolt of reality and what you DON’T want to see happen to C’ville along with all the apparent wishful thinking of many of your folks in the real estate/development industry who seem to be chomping at the bit to try to ignite.Well said.