Developing a building can often feel like you’re trying to solve a rubik’s cube. Among other things, you have to manage a myriad of different stakeholders, all of which — naturally — operate in their own self-interest. There’s the city, community, politicians, various agencies, consultants,… Read More
On February 1, 2017, an inclusionary zoning ordinance came into effect in Portland, mandating that all new residential projects with 20 or more units dedicate a portion of the building to affordable housing. For the first year, the requirement was 8% of all units for… Read More
The San Francisco Chronicle recently published an article called, “SF residential projects languish as rising costs force developers to cash out.” It talks about the impact that rising costs (both construction and other) are having on new housing supply. Some developers aren’t building even though may… Read More
About a year ago, Portland enacted “Inclusionary Housing” policy requiring new apartment buildings of 20 units or more to offer up a portion of the units at below market rents. Developers are able to select from a few different options and the rents are calculated according… Read More
After my recent post on inclusionary zoning in Ontario, I was asked to provide my comments on the draft regulation and on how inclusionary zoning could and will impact development feasibility. So I will endeavor to do that today. It’s important to first understand the… Read More
On Monday the province of Ontario posted a draft regulation intended to establish a framework for inclusionary zoning. It builds on a bill that passed last year allowing municipalities – should they choose – to require affordable housing in new developments and redevelopments. Below are… Read More
The Supreme Court of the United States may soon consider whether inclusionary zoning is in fact unconstitutional. A pending petition by the developer of an 11-unit condominium project in the City of West Hollywood is asking whether a $540,393.28 “affordable housing fee” – which is… Read More
City Observatory recently published a post called, The 0.1 percent solution: Inclusionary zoning’s fatal scale problem. I recognize the political attractiveness of this land use policy, but I’ve always been skeptical about its effectiveness. Here’s an excerpt from the post: “While inclusionary zoning gets top… Read More
Alan Ehrenhalt recently published a balanced piece in Governing that largely reflects my own views on inclusionary zoning. It’s called: Why Affordable Housing Is So Hard To Build. His argument is that there are lots of cities trying to build more affordable housing, but that most… Read More
Ontario is looking to pass legislation that would allow municipalities in the province to implement something known as inclusionary zoning. If passed and should municipalities decide to use this tool (Toronto almost certainly would), developers would then be required and/or incentivized to include some percentage… Read More
