LAIGW’s December 15 meeting included panel on the subject of Affordable Housing Finance: Overcoming the Impossible. The presentation brought three different perspectives and one bottom line – there is a continuing need for individuals in lower income brackets to have opportunities to live in clean, safe and affordable housing, and it is complicated to build or renovate housing for this group. The costs for construction remain the same as for market rate units, and the key to keeping the rents affordable is to build a capital stack for financing that includes funds to be able to write-down rents in the project.
Carmen Romero from APAH, Adam Ducker from RCLCO, and Steve Wilson from SCG Development each provided a different perspective on the issue.
Carmen runs a nonprofit that makes housing affordable to lower income residents, and provides wrap-around services to assist residents to increase family and financial stability. Their creativity is endless and one project they developed provides housing for formerly homeless individuals, including veterans.
Here is her powerpoint: LAIGW Presentation 12.15.23 (2)
Adam described what constitutes affordable housing and what the market looks like today. He talked about the extent of rent burdened households and the east west divide in affordability in the region. His powerpoint provides many pertinent and interesting facts about our area:
Steve runs a for-profit housing development company (SCG Development) that specializes in affordable housing. Their portfolio consists of over 50 properties across the country, ranging from high-rise new construction, to adaptive reuse of historic buildings, to the acquisition and rehabilitation of existing apartment communities. In his powerpoint Steve compared the illustrative costs per unit of affordable and market rate units and the sources of funding each sector utilizes. LAIGW V2 December 15, 2023 (4)
Here are several photos from the meeting.
