Story in the Washington Post. People are upset, because it means that fewer units get built, and they wonder why these units are much fancier than where they as taxpayers live. The D.C. building, called Ontario Place, will include a rooftop aquaponics farm to produce fresh fruits and vegetables for its tenants, whose rents will be capped at well below market rates. Two nearby buildings by the same developer, D.C. nonprofit Jubilee Housing, have run up a development price tag of $1.3 million for each of 50 apartments....
While Ontario Place and EucKal appear to feature among the costliest affordable housing units in the country, a Post review of city documents showed half a dozen other buildings with development costs per unit between $700,000 and $1 million.
Meanwhile, the average D.C. home value is $616,567, according to Zillow.
New homes, particularly those in multifamily buildings, tend to cost more than average. But it has also become commonplace for government-subsidized housing to cost much more to build than that of the private market, housing experts say. In Chicago, a 43-unit building in East Garfield Park is projected to cost about $900,000 per apartment, city records show. In San Francisco, several buildings have exceeded the $1-million-per-unit mark, according to that city’s Citywide Affordable Housing Loan Committee....
Regarding another project:
“We also include community amenities and additional space to support our mission-focused resident services goals,” Lind said in a statement. “This includes a fitness room to encourage physical activity, a library, a large café with an outdoor terrace, a large multi-purpose community room with a separate outdoor terrace, an indoor bike room, on-site laundry, lounges and balconies on every floor.”
Another tax-credit project in Southeast Washington, the Ethel, cost nearly $800,000 per unit, all 100 of which are one-bedrooms. Bowser has claimed it as a signature accomplishment. The architect touts the detailing of its facade and the developers are set to walk away with an $8.5-million fee, records show.
Next door, the same developers built the Park Kennedy, for mostly market-rate tenants, at a per-unit cost of about $350,000, records show.
Makes you wonder why the city can't just buy existing stock. Or spend more on vouchers.
I’d love to see a demographic study of who gets those apartments
These projects are more expensive for 1 valid reason: every one of them is a prevailing wage project which means all subs need to pay their workers on these projects by the government mandated pay scale which doubles or sometimes triples a normal wage. Overall this should make the project 10% more, not 250% more though.probably just another real jerk in life
on June 8, 2025, 10:30:44
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