I encourage everyone to listen to the latest episode of #TheHousingProblem. It was such a great listen. NYC HDC President Eric Enderlin, my former boss from what seems like a lifetime ago, shared some great insights. Totally agree that the challenges of developing new housing, including the increasingly more cumbersome entitlement process, has created a false scarcity that has made it impossible for New York to create the number of units that it needs to produce every year to keep up with housing demand. This is a phenomenon that we’re seeing across the country. I saw this firsthand when I lived in San Francisco a few years ago when average rents per unit were higher than in New York City. However, this was because the allowable density was very low in a city that attracted a lot of people. Simple supply and demand. Creating more density through zoning and land use changes (making sure that it is supported with the proper infrastructure, including transportation and schools, etc.) will bring down rents. Period. I also agree that we need to find ways to streamline how affordable housing owners comply with regulatory requirements. There needs to be a better balance in the amount of resources that the industry devotes to mitigating audit risk versus providing quality affordable housing. Additionally, I agree that we need to create an environment that encourages more entrepreneurs to build affordable housing. Developers need to be provided with the incentives to develop a five-unit project here and a ten-unit project there. These incentives would also work well in other places where land is in short supply such as Los Angeles, another city with a BIG housing problem. Collectively, these additional units will put some downward pressure on rents and ease rent burdens in metro areas across the country. Anyway, looking forward to listening in on the next podcast!
Today on the pod: Eric Enderlin, president of the New York City Housing Development Corporation, joins us to talk the brutal math of building affordable housing. We also dig into Robert Moses’s public housing plans, the lopsided financial benefits of homeownership, single-room occupancy (#SRO) units, and the obstacles to filling vacant housing. Check out the new episode of #TheHousingProblem #podcast here: https://lnkd.in/e8ygXbqD
