Affordable Housing

[moderne]

What wisdom did the Funk have to contribute?

[Anthony_Hugo98]

What wisdom did the Funk have to contribute?

Funk and wisdom don’t belong in the same sentence

[FangKC]

An East Boston Tenant Fought Her Eviction For 8 Years. The City Bought Her Building And 35 Others.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and the city council celebrated an ambitious housing acquisition made in October. The city finalized a deal in October to buy 36 mostly three-story, multi-family buildings in the East Boston neighborhood for $47 million, forming the East Boston Neighborhood Trust to manage the properties with deed restrictions to keep all of the units affordable in perpetuity.
...
The city says the portfolio will be converted to a Mixed Income Neighborhood Trust, where units will be priced for a range of incomes, made affordable to people making 50% of average median income at the low end and 100% of average median income on the high end.

In addition to CARES Act and American Rescue Plan funding, the city invested money from its Acquisition Opportunity Program (AOP), which provides loans to affordable housing providers and nonprofits to acquire properties, provided they keep the units affordable for at least 50 years, with at least 40% of the units affordable to low- and moderate-income people. The program was created in 2016 in response to rapid speculation from investors.

After receiving $5 million of funding in 2019, the council used American Rescue Plan dollars to add $50 million of funding to the AOP between 2021 and 2022, making it among the more robustly funded housing acquisition programs of its kind in the country. It has since funded the acquisition of 113 buildings and 814 units of housing since 2016, according to a February presentation by the Mayor’s Office of Housing.
...

https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/an- ... cebook_snd

[FangKC]

North Lawn tenants demand safe, affordable housing

Tenants of the Gladstone Court Apartments are making demands for safe, affordable housing of the building’s new owner after the company nearly tripled the rent with 30 days notice.
...
In January, their utilities were shut off over a weekend following a fire in the basement, leaving them without heat or electricity. They were eventually turned back on after inspections were completed and pressure from the union. However, poor living conditions have persisted for years.

FTW Investments, the owner of the property at the time, sold it to a new ownership entity, Wiser LLC, based in New Jersey.

“The property is now managed by Rubicon Realty, based in Arizona,” according to a press release from KC Tenants. “As of two weeks ago, the new owner sent notices to tenants at the property, informing them that their leases will not be renewed. Tenants in the building, all of whom are immigrants or refugees, do not have anywhere else to go.”

They were offered new lease agreements at nearly triple the current rent, going from $300 or $400 to $1,100. Tenants have said they won’t go when their leases are up later this month. They’re also asking for their appliances, broken windows and apartments to be repaired.
...

https://northeastnews.net/pages/north-l ... e-housing/

[taxi]

Glad to see KC Tenants is trying to help these people. This kind of shit is infuriating.

[Anthony_Hugo98]

Glad to see KC Tenants is trying to help these people. This kind of shit is infuriating.

Beyond infuriating, it’s inhumane. This is the types of things I absolutely love KCT for. In the regard of holding absolute scumbags accountable, we all should celebrate those efforts

[FangKC]

People left 'chaos' at Kansas City housing office without promised vouchers — or an explanation

...
Hundreds of people expecting to receive Section 8 vouchers from the Housing Authority of Kansas City endured a long and chaotic wait Saturday, only to leave frustrated and empty handed.
...
Independence resident Shanail Kleihauer said she waited six hours without getting screened.

“And then we get here and we find out the vouchers are not even being given out to people," Kleihauer said. “On our letters it says that the vouchers are gonna be given out to the people that are eligible for it.”
...
Kansas City’s Houseless Prevention Coordinator Josh Henges said he couldn’t comment on specifics of the event but did say he understood peoples’ frustrations.

“The waitlist is years long,” Henges said.

He added there are 14,000 people on that list in Jackson County and the county is 40,000 units short on affordable housing units.

“We’re desperate for (housing),” he said.
...

https://www.kcur.org/news/2023-03-28/pe ... xplanation

[FangKC]

Hundreds of Kansas City pet owners give up animals each year because of housing challenges

https://www.kcur.org/housing-developmen ... challenges

[FangKC]

North Lawn tenants demand safe, affordable housing

Tenants of the Gladstone Court Apartments are making demands for safe, affordable housing of the building’s new owner after the company nearly tripled the rent with 30 days notice.
...
In January, their utilities were shut off over a weekend following a fire in the basement, leaving them without heat or electricity. They were eventually turned back on after inspections were completed and pressure from the union. However, poor living conditions have persisted for years.

FTW Investments, the owner of the property at the time, sold it to a new ownership entity, Wiser LLC, based in New Jersey.

“The property is now managed by Rubicon Realty, based in Arizona,” according to a press release from KC Tenants. “As of two weeks ago, the new owner sent notices to tenants at the property, informing them that their leases will not be renewed. Tenants in the building, all of whom are immigrants or refugees, do not have anywhere else to go.”

They were offered new lease agreements at nearly triple the current rent, going from $300 or $400 to $1,100. Tenants have said they won’t go when their leases are up later this month. They’re also asking for their appliances, broken windows and apartments to be repaired.
...

https://northeastnews.net/pages/north-l ... e-housing/

Tenants at northeast Kansas City apartment win agreement to stay after being told to pay double rent or leave

https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/te ... t-or-leave

[Cratedigger]

HUD updates: 7% increase to AMI in KC to $104,600

[FangKC]

Affordable units coming to historic Paseo buildings

https://northeastnews.net/pages/afforda ... buildings/

[herrfrank]

What wisdom did the Funk have to contribute?

Funk and wisdom don’t belong in the same sentence

For some reason this brought to mind a long-ago (or early attempt at a) Boomer-generation, hipster version of the classic reference encyclopedia, Funk & Wagnalls. Its 1970s desk set was in burnt orange and full color, unlike the stodgier Britannica that the Silent Generation favored.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funk_%26_Wagnalls

https://di2ponv0v5otw.cloudfront.net/po ... 15a34.jpeg

[FangKC]

Imagine a Renters’ Utopia. It Might Look Like Vienna.

Soaring real estate markets have created a worldwide housing crisis. What can we learn from a city that has largely avoided it?

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/23/maga ... =url-share

[Cratedigger]

https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/ne ... udy.html

A recent study revealed that Dallas has 475 unused plots already zoned for multifamily housing, covering a total of 76 million square feet, which could accommodate approximately 100,000 new apartments. I wonder what that number would be in KC?

Also interesting - KC needs to get more projects in the pipeline ASAP

If the rate of multifamily development in Dallas stays at its current construction pace of about 4,000 apartments built a year, rent is expected to increase by 85% to 123% in the next 10 years. But with a faster pace of construction that would add about 10,000 new units a year, rents in Dallas would rise 47% to 85%, yielding more affordability for current and future residents.

Dallas currently faces a backlog of about 1,000 planned developments due to permitting challenges resulting from the transition to an online system during the pandemic. However, there is a bill which proposes allowing applicants to hire third parties to perform necessary reviews and sign off on permits if the city fails to meet specific deadlines. One way to speed up the permitting process.

[DaveKCMO]

Surely there's a similar process we can implement here that encourages developers and staff to work faster? All of the developers I talk to say KCMO is the worst and lots of housing talk at City Hall, but nothing seems to be getting better.

[Anthony_Hugo98]

Surely there's a similar process we can implement here that encourages developers and staff to work faster? All of the developers I talk to say KCMO is the worst and lots of housing talk at City Hall, but nothing seems to be getting better.

.

[Cratedigger]

https://www.kmbc.com/article/dozens-lis ... i/44100549

Did anyone go to this last night?

[Cratedigger]

Since 2009, rent prices have outpaced income growth in nearly all of the 50 most populated US metros. Only Providence, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh have seen income growth surpass rent increases.

While KC is one of the 10 most affordable metros currently, it experienced rent increases of 9% between 2022 and 2023. Good for 6th highest in the country by that metric. We need more supply in the city and the pipeline does not inspire confidence right now.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-release ... 54838.html

[KC_Ari]

Since 2009, rent prices have outpaced income growth in nearly all of the 50 most populated US metros. Only Providence, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh have seen income growth surpass rent increases, resulting in a decline in the rent-to-income ratio.

Still, KC is one of the 10 most affordable metros.

The most affordable cities for renters based on the current rent-to-income ratio are:

Cincinnati, Ohio (15.5%)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (16.2%)
St. Louis, Missouri (16.4%)
Minneapolis, Minnesota (16.6%)
Buffalo, New York (16.8%)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin (17.1%)
Providence, Rhode Island (17.2%)
Cleveland, Ohio (17.2%)
Kansas City, Missouri (17.4%)
Louisville, Kentucky (17.5%)

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-release ... 54838.html

That report uses a 2021 median household income of $73,299 for KCMO, not sure if that is the city itself or metro-wide.
From the linked full report:

For a measure of historical nationwide income, we use the St. Louis FRED’s Real Median Income measure.

[beautyfromashes]

While KC is one of the 10 most affordable metros currently, it experienced rent increases of 9% between 2022 and 2023. Good for 6th highest in the country by that metric. We need more supply in the city and the pipeline does not inspire confidence right now.

Rental prices are going to dramatically increase in Kansas City and it’s not really going to be a supply and demand issue. The dramatic increase in property tax values will be passed through to renters if there isn’t an adjustment in the tax rate. So, it’s really a government caused issue.