Wrong Way
A recent report from Boston-based Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association criticizes Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney for freezing $23 million in available funding for one state housing fund and redirecting the agenda of another. By not supporting these programs, which provide “gap financing” to preserve existing federally and state-assisted developments, more than 30,000 subsidized units are at risk of becoming market-rate over the next five years, according to the report. –L.S.
Patriotic Project
Uncle Sam might want you the next time the military decides to upgrade its on-base housing. For example, when the U.S. Army decided to make over its housing, it entered into a partnership with GMH Military Housing and partners Centex Construction and The Benham Companies. They developed 22 different house plans for the Fort Bliss Family Housing Privatization Project, a $455 million project in Fort Bliss, Texas, that will involve building, renovating, or destroying thousands of housing units. The finished development will consist of five distinct neighborhoods, with a mix of townhouses and single-family homes. GMH, which has a 50-year lease with the Army at Fort Bliss, will manage the new military housing as well. –Margaret Anton
The REIT
Choice REITS continue to outperform the stock of companies in the Dow and S&P 500, despite predictions that REITS would lose their top billing this year, according to the Wall Street Journal. REITS have outperformed other stocks for five straight years. –R.Z.A.
Cost Burden
If you live in New York City and work in retail, it’s probably pretty tough to pay your rent every month, according to an analysis of wage data from the National Association of Home Builders. In the report, NAHB says that in the top 25 metropolitan areas, 92 percent of apartments are beyond the financial means of retail salespeople, counter clerks, cashiers, and other retail workers. This forces them to spend 30 percent or more of their income on rent. –L.S.
Going to Vegas?
If so, you’ll want to move fast. Pre-registration for the 2005 Multifamily Executive Conference in Las Vegas ends Friday, Oct. 7 at 5 p.m. EST. For hotel information, registration, and seminar details, visit www.mfeconference.com.
Walking the Walk
The Sierra Club, which recently partnered with the NMHC on efforts supporting the development of high-density housing, is doing the same on a local level. In Sonoma County, Calif., the Sierra Club recently supported the Windsor development, a high-density project proposed by developer Orrin Thiessen. Why? The Sierra Club chapter decided that such projects would better conserve and protect the area’s farmland, which produces grapes, apples, and dairy products. “This support is very healthy. Environmental groups finally understand that there is good development and bad development, but not all bad,” says Doug Bibby, NMHC’s president. –M.A.