To me, the one part of this post that sticks out like a sore thumb is the following:
"Our neighborhood board has housing guidelines requiring 30 percent of any new more-than-duplex development be rentable at 30% of MMI, 30 percent at 50% MMI, and the rest market rate. Otherwise, we don't recommend upzoning, variances, or offer our meager potential NRP financing." I think it's great to have a vision for the community. However, business is business -- the numbers have to work. That means a development has to make 1) a reasonable profit in a reasonable period of time, and 2) the cash flow must work. Your board's policy might be workable for some buildings/sites and not for others, but you won't know unless and until you see the numbers for a specific project. For this reason, I hope your policy is not a hard-and-fast guideline, but flexible, and based on each individual situation. Reading a bit between the lines, your questions about the developer's plans might be entirely explained away by the numbers of the project. For example, hypothetically, you might need the same square footage for two 1-bedroom apartments that you need for a 4-bedroom apartment. But a 4-bedroom apartment won't yield the same rent as two one bedrooms, it will yield less. You might need the kind of cash flow a certain mix of units provides, depending on the mortage and a host of other factors. How the numbers work for the rest of the project will greatly shape, if not dictate, the size and type of units that can be included. I think you are right to be concerned with making decisions in haste. I spoke to a friend of mine who is getting into the development business about your neighborhood's questions and the concerns about being rushed. She said that developers need to take neighborhoods through their numbers so that the boards understand what's going on and why certain decisions are made and what the tradeoffs are. She said developers need to be patient with neighborhoods because it takes time to educate people and to not leave people behind. She said a good developer will do this. She also said that almost without exception developers need some amount of subsidy to create affordable housing because the numbers just don't work without it. I thought that was interesting in light of previous discussion on the list. Of course, it all depends on the individual project. I'm not disputing that some subsidies are ridiculously high -- there again you'd have to see the numbers to know the whole story. You're right to be looking for additional knowledge and input before and while your neighborhood board goes through its consideration of this project. Certainly, the track record of the developer should figure prominently in your deliberations. However, I would caution you against attributing motivation or interpreting statements as "veiled threats" -- alarmist thinking is counterproductive. In my experience, a good analysis of the numbers will tell you the whole story, lock, stock and barrel. The whole story can be gotten in other ways, of course, but that takes longer and is subject to interpretation. Focus your energy on understanding the numbers. That's what will tell you whether or not your board's policy is realistic in this instance. You might also want to bring in a developer or two to talk about the development business in general. It sounds to me like your board could use some general knowledge and a different, more helpful, framework to think through these projects. Barbara Nelson Burnsville (previously Minneapolis for 18 years) _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
