I agree that most buildings coming on line are upscale buildings. I also agree that affordability (not availability, discrimination or bad-records) is what primarily causes homelessness.
Given the increasing vacancy rate, isn't increasing the availability of vouchers (ala Section 8) a better solution than building more apartment complexes? Do you know there is a multi-year waiting list for section 8 vouchers - the list is so long that they are no longer adding names? (my experience is with St. Paul PHA, I am unsure if Minneapolis PHA has the same problem). A comment on up-scale buildings. Today it costs $90 - $100 per square foot to build a new apartment building. Since most 2 bedroom apartments require about 1000 square foot (when you include part of the commons area in the calculation), the building cost is $90K to $100K for a 2 bedroom apartment. Given the cost, it is prohibitive to build a new apartment complex unless it is upscale or heavily subsidized. I agree that vacancy rates are worst in upscale buildings. However, vacancy rates are increasing in all rental market segments. I personally know of many 2 bedroom apartments -- vacant today -- that rent for less than $700/month. I appreciate your time. Bill Cullen Hopkins - Landlord. -----Original Message----- From: Jason Sittko [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2003 10:22 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [Mpls] "No Longer the Giveaway County Board" I think you have listed many of the right reasons.. I think the primary reason is the affordability issue; not discrimination, not bad-records etc etc. However, this is not to say that the city should start tackling the issue with municipal dollars. The market will adjust. How do I (for whatever my opinion is worth,) think we got to 6.6%? Many properties coming on line over the last year were likely conceived at the height of the economy and investment capital was easy to get. If you look at these properties it appears that there was a clear "buy-in" to the concept that everything has to be "upscale" or at least "upper-scale." This makes the project cost more...which will dictate higher rents. Now, just when they are coming on line, the economy is not so great and people either can't or prefer not to pay those rents. Now let's compound the problem. These people may never come back to that market because rates have been so historically low and these people (the $1,000/month crowd) have likely (and hopefully) purchased homes.
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