I think this policy is incomplete without ensuring there is enough competition to ensure that rents stay relatively affordable.
more supply = more competition, no?
I have never seen more supply of apartments make existing rents go down.
I had a friend's rent go up 25% in one year in an area that has seen a huge amount of apartment buildings go up. That's not rational. The companies that own these apartment buildings care about nothing more than more money and know that they'll be able to find someone to pay the exhorbant prices.
There was a cool OddLots episode recently where they talked to a guy who does Office to Residential work and some of the complexity. One thing he talked about, which I didn't know anyone did, was to actually cut through the ceiling/floorplate of buildings to basically "donut" them. This is necessary because many office floorplans are huge with modern HVAC and when converted into residential you end up with either und…
> This is necessary because many office floorplans are huge with modern HVAC and when converted into residential you end up with either undesirable or illegal apartments due to lack of windows/egress/etc. Couldn't you just wall off the middle? I mean, you do get another set of windows on the inner courtyard, but it seems expensive to perform such major surgery on a building.
If you don't use the center of the building, then you only have room for one "ring" of residential units, whose windows face the exterior of the building. If you cut a donut hole down the center of the building, now you have room for two rings of units. Furthermore, in places like NYC, developers are allowed to "bank" the floorspace that comprised the donut hole and add new construction on top of the building so that overall square footage remains the same.
The idea that a single firm or even a stable cartel could effectively control prices in a market as large as Boston is just naive.
They can just run a cartel [1]. I don’t understand why anyone thinks things like housing can have any competition when housing is not a commodity but a necessity and the margins are rather thin with little to no space for efficiency and innovation, and private equity can just buy apartments and houses. > In one neighborhood in Seattle, ProPublica found, 70% of apartments were overseen by just 10 property managers, ev…
Property managers owners.
RE investment is very hands on, and people hiring property managers to deal with it on their behalf. The idea that the top 10 own 70% of the market is not a shock.
You could probably do this "top 10 own 70% of __ market" for literally anything.
I think this is fantastic. Boston desperately needs more housing. Let's get some increased funding for the T as well while we are at it.
Property tax represents 72% of Boston's municipal revenue[0], and this initiative provides a property tax reduction of up to 75% for up to 29 years, so unfortunately this initiative will not help with T funding.
It's a fine idea if good candidates for conversion can be found, but shouldn't they fix up their dilapidated public transit system before inviting more density into their urban core? Just today, one of their rail cars caught fire at an elevated station, and their broken fire suppression system did nothing but flood the ground floor when the firefighters tried to use it. Wu's push for more housing density along the ci…
There was a cool OddLots episode recently where they talked to a guy who does Office to Residential work and some of the complexity. One thing he talked about, which I didn't know anyone did, was to actually cut through the ceiling/floorplate of buildings to basically "donut" them. This is necessary because many office floorplans are huge with modern HVAC and when converted into residential you end up with either und…
> This is necessary because many office floorplans are huge with modern HVAC and when converted into residential you end up with either undesirable or illegal apartments due to lack of windows/egress/etc. Couldn't you just wall off the middle? I mean, you do get another set of windows on the inner courtyard, but it seems expensive to perform such major surgery on a building.
But you effectively get another set of apartments that have interior windows. Sure they’re not gonna have a great view but they’re still rentable apartments
It's a fine idea if good candidates for conversion can be found, but shouldn't they fix up their dilapidated public transit system before inviting more density into their urban core? Just today, one of their rail cars caught fire at an elevated station, and their broken fire suppression system did nothing but flood the ground floor when the firefighters tried to use it. Wu's push for more housing density along the ci…
If you're going to hold solving the housing crisis hostage to having proper public transit infrastructure, we're never going to solve the housing crisis.
It's a fine idea if good candidates for conversion can be found, but shouldn't they fix up their dilapidated public transit system before inviting more density into their urban core? Just today, one of their rail cars caught fire at an elevated station, and their broken fire suppression system did nothing but flood the ground floor when the firefighters tried to use it. Wu's push for more housing density along the ci…
Feels more like a sensible compromise between a bailout for commercial real estate holders and helping the city to continue growing. In theory at least.
The T definitely needs some help. But if you're living downtown, it's a very walkable city fwiw.
I have never seen more supply of apartments make existing rents go down. I had a friend's rent go up 25% in one year in an area that has seen a huge amount of apartment buildings go up. That's not rational. The companies that own these apartment buildings care about nothing more than more money and know that they'll be able to find someone to pay the exhorbant prices.
Same in New York City where I live. A major reason is that the demand curve is effectively vertical - people here who would like to buy a home to live in are not competing just with other residents but with a global investor class who want to park capital in NYC property (and expect an appreciation rate that far exceeds inflation).