Affordable Housing Market Demands in Cities Require New Thinking

Jackie Davis / USP510 / Planning & the Housing Market / Winter 2014 New Teams Needed to Meet Affordable Housing Market Demands in Cities The concept of the American Dream arose from the age of the GI Bill of the 1940s and America’s

postwar economic and baby boom. 1 Homeownership and the single family detached dwelling with a

garage and a yard became the goal of every family in America. However, in light of our modern age, this

structure is no longer meeting the needs of the altered demographic & desired lifestyle. There are more

singles than ever before, comprised of the aged, divorced, and unmarried; 2 and more people want to

move closer into the city to be near jobs and activities. The mortgage crisis surfaced in 2006 and stirred a

series of conversation about rethinking suburbia & housing. The Congress for the New Urbanism spurred its ethos of densification, walkability, and mixed use. 3 We are now at a point where we are forced to reconsider the new parameters of the American Dream.

The project Foreclosed, held by MOMA in 2012, set out to use architects, environmentalists,

economists, engineers, activists, artists, and practitioners of all disciplines to come together to think about new models for future development of suburbs. They aimed to challenge the status quo of zoning and tax codes, and devise new models that imply different ways of living, legislating and financing.4 Teams were asked to generate new ideas of urban and architectural solutions, imagining new financial structures to

create viable new places to live on existing sites. The Buell Hypothesis, produced by a series of research from Columbia, states essentially that ‘if you change the dream, you can change the city.’ Housing the

expanding population of dynamic demographics has been a growing problem all across America, and it’s

not just poor people’s problem, it’s everyone’s problem. Conventional means of developing housing are

not serving the needs of the larger population of low – middle income people, including millennials, young families, and the growing senior population. We need to begin to take this problem seriously and work

across disciplines to find new solutions.

Bergdoll, Barry. Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream. The Museum of Modern Art, New York: June 30, 2012 Masnick, George S. “The New Demographics of Housing.” Joint Center for Housing Studies. Harvard University.

2001. Published: Housing Policy Debate, Volume 13:2 3 Bergdoll.

4 Bergdoll.

1 2

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Jackie Davis / USP510 / Planning & the Housing Market / Winter 2014 In planning, whether on the regional or city level, it’s hard to apply a one-fits all solution, as every

place has its own cultural identity and political structure. While we recognize that there is a national

affordable housing shortage, there might not be as much awareness or sense of urgency to address the

problem. All sides of the planning and building industry need to begin to align interests and coordinate

plans to meet the need for affordable housing in major metropolitan city areas. Some of the major issues that stand in the way of building affordable housing in the city are single use zoning (not allowing for

mixed use or high density residential); outdated regulations within the zoning, like prescribed setbacks and parking requirements (that slow down new innovative solutions in design review); high land value (which prohibits developers from building less than market rate to make the project pencil and turn a

profit); resistance from neighbors (from misconceptions about who lives in affordable housing and the impact it will have on their property values). This is where the different disciplines need to come

together to create multidimensional solutions to address the neighbors, developers, and city’s concerns.

In some recent examples, there is a third party association or non-profit that serves to advocate

for these issues on all fronts, while some smaller developer/builders are making their own projects

happen in more progressive cities like Portland, OR. In the following paragraphs I will present a few

different models of vastly different team structures and development approaches building affordable

housing in major U.S. cities.

1. Ankeny Row / Green Hammer / Portland, OR Ankeny Row was initiated by two retired couples looking to downsize their house and their heating bills.

They worked with Green Hammer, a full-service, integrated design-build team, to develop an intentional

community made up of five 1,500-square-foot townhouses and one 900-square-foot condominium on a

single 12,600 square-foot lot. 56 This lot is zoned Mixed Commercial Residential along Ankeny to buffer noise and traffic from the quitter residential parts. 7 The owners, who worked in environmentally

http://djcoregon.com/news/2012/01/19/empty-nesters-planning-southeast-portland-housing-development/ http://ankenyrow.wordpress.com/ 7 http://www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/index.cfm?&a=64432&c=36238&#CM 5 6

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Jackie Davis / USP510 / Planning & the Housing Market / Winter 2014 conscious fields expressed their dedication to building green, sustainable homes, not only for future cost

savings but because of “the multiple incentives” available to them—from the federal government, the

state of Oregon, and the local Bonneville Environmental Foundation.”8 The site was also in a Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption area in a Low-Moderate Income designated area on PortlandMaps.com. 9 “Under the Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption (MULTE) Program, multi-unit projects receive a ten-year

property tax exemption on structural improvements to the property as long as program requirements are

met.” 10 The stress in this project, although very bottom up and client specific, is that not only did the cities conscious planning provisions allow this to be possible, but the team working on the project was

completely integrated with a common goal in mind during the entire design and planning process. 11 2. Via Verde / Enterprise / Bronx, NYC Via Verde was the result of a New York Design Competition handled by the Department of Housing

Preservation and Development and The American Institute of Architects: New York Chapter. It was the first ever juried design competition for affordable and sustainable housing. 12 The sponsors of the

Competition were the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the National

Endowment for the Arts. The site was a 40,000 square foot brownfield lot priced for $1. It was intended

to be a mixed-use, mixed-income development with residential upper floors serving a varied population and commercial and community uses at street level. 13 Sustainable design, such as the use of high

performance, environmentally-appropriate construction materials that improve energy efficiency and the

lifespan of the building, was required. The winning team was made up of Jonathan Rose (Developer),

Phipps Houses Group (Nonprofit), Grimshaw Architects (High-profile architect), and Dattner Architects

(Local architect), known as p.r.d.g.

http://eesi.org/retiree-fired-about-creating-passive-house-community-portland-27-jun-2012 http://www.portlandmaps.com/ 10 http://www.portlandoregon.gov/phb/61191 11 http://www.greenhammer.com/expertise/integrated-services/ 12 http://www.aiany.org/NHNY/#Winner 13 http://www.aiany.org/NHNY/#Winner 8 9

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Jackie Davis / USP510 / Planning & the Housing Market / Winter 2014 “Via Verde provides 151 rental apartments affordable to qualifying low-income households and 71 co-op

ownership units affordable to middle-income households. The latter comprise a diversity of types

including single-family townhomes, duplex units, and live-work units with a first floor work/office space.

There will also be 9,500 square feet of retail and community space. The 1.5-acre site is in the Melrose

neighborhood with access to mass transit and other urban amenities.” 14 Johnathan Rose was a key player

in the success of the development of this winning deisgn. His practice is unusual in that he has a deep

understanding and dedication to green building in the complicated world of real estate financing 15 with a “mission is to repair and strengthen the fabric of cities… while preserving the land around them.”16 With 20+ years of development and investment experience, their portfolio of projects contains a vast array of mixed use, multi family, and affordable buildings. This sort of commitment to interdisciplinary, sustainable solutions is probably what gave p.r.d.g. a leg up on the competition, providing an equitable solution that could sustain itself and its residents for the life of the project.

3. Footprint / Micro Units / Portland, OR Back to Portland, Oregon, another response to affordable housing is the increased need for dense,

affordable, transit-oriented, workforce housing. Seattle-based developers like Footprint, are bringing

their model down and testing it out in Portland. The 56-unit construction falls under the group living

category like a dorm (with units averaging only 200 sq.ft. with shared kitchens 17) and was thus able to bypass the parking regulations in the zoning code for new construction. Neighbors and local business

owners are concerned about the overcrowding of cars while Cathy Reines, the chief executive officer of

Footprint Investments, claims that the demographic of people living in similar properties are on average 31, making under $40,000 annually, with only about 10-20% owning cars. Footprint’s “mission is just to

provide affordable housing in urban areas so individuals can live where they work and where they want http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/the_spectacular_green_way_to_b.html http://www.theatlanticcities.com/housing/2012/11/meet-man-who-repairs-fabric-communities/3860/ 16 http://www.rosecompanies.com/about-us/mission-to-repair-the-fabric-of-communities 17 http://www.lifeedited.com/portlands-little-apartment-problem/ 14 15

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Jackie Davis / USP510 / Planning & the Housing Market / Winter 2014 to spend their recreational time.” 18 "Occupancy is reportedly near 100 percent, because the price is far

below that of studio apartments nearby." Developer Jim Potter makes a similar case that, "We’re at a price

point that no one else is delivering," Potter told The Oregonian. "It’s not for everyone, but it’s a choice, and we like offering choices." 19

All three projects cover three different scales, three different initiators, and arguably many

different target markets and demographics; yet all are solutions to creating more affordable housing

options in the city. Ankeny row was multiple small single family homes on singular city lots, increasing the density and affordability while respecting the neighborhood scale. Via Verde was a colossal scale,

prompted by the state, with a variety of housing types and levels of affordability. While Footprint’s micro housing is a multi-story complex, aiming to house many people on a small footprint for the sake of living

affordably close in the city. All of these solutions will not only help alleviate the strain on the low-middle

income housing demand, but also mitigate housing from continuing to sprawl farther away from jobs and

rich urban centers. All of the above mentioned parties are working toward coming up with new,

integrated solutions to this largely disregarded problem. There are many layers to the multi-faceted issue

of affordable housing in the city, but once attention is brought to the issues, old rules can be reformed and

creative people throughout planning, developing, architecture and building can begin to work together to

come up with new solutions to this mounting problem.

http://www.drivethedistrict.com/2014/02/13/micro-apartments-are-a-new-trend-in-urban-living/ http://bikeportland.org/2013/11/06/newest-portland-apartment-plans-are-bike-friendly-dorms-for-grownups96728 18 19

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