In the heart of D.C., along a narrow street in the affluent Adams Morgan neighborhood, a scaffolding rises above the sidewalk near increasingly expensive homes.
The 52-unit building under construction will house people making far below the area’s median income. Half will be newly released from incarceration.
But the building’s development cost is enough to make the neighborhood’s wealthier residents blink: $1.2 million per apartment.
Read MoreSeattle’s affordable housing industry is in crisis. City faces tough choices. . .
Read MoreIn Congress' stopgap funding bill, HUD is slated to receive a nearly $3.7B increase, but that would effectively cut subsidies and rent by more than $700M, according to the National Low Income ...
Read MoreThe Trump administration is eliminating a $1B federal housing program aimed at preserving affordable housing as part of its cost-cutting efforts.
Read MoreHousing permits began to increase again in 2005, with substantial production starting in 2007. Over the past 17 years, 42,980 rental units—31 percent of the total rental stock—have been built in 300 buildings, representing 10 percent of all rental properties.
Read MoreMore than 40 real estate investors, brokers, bankers and attorneys gathered Wednesday morning in the basement of the three-story community building of the Meadow Green Courts affordable housing complex in Southeast D.C. to witness the auction of the land on which they stood.
Read MoreD.C. is falling behind the region in production of new multifamily units, a trend that leaders fear will raise the cost of housing for all segments of the market.
The District’s declining share of multifamily housing production in the larger metropolitan statistical area reverses a trend of D.C. leading the region, according to U.S. Census Bureau data of multifamily housing permits compiled by the office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development.
Read MoreDirectly across the Anacostia River from RFK Stadium, a complex of 51 three-story brick buildings has become the latest symbol of D.C.’s worsening housing crisis. Rental arrears have continued to mount at apartment complexes in D.C. even months after emergency legislation was passed aimed at forcing more tenants to pay their rent on time. Five of D.C.’s largest housing owners — Enterprise Community Development, WC Smith, CIH Properties, Donohoe Cos. and E&G are sitting on more than $30M combined in total rent delinquencies.
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American cities face a paradox: empty office buildings downtown and rising homelessness on the streets. Alex Horowitz, project director at Pew Charitable Trusts, suggests an innovative solution—transforming offices into affordable, dorm-style apartments by removing outdated building rules, like the requirement for openable windows.
This change could drastically cut costs and increase housing supply, providing affordable rents for those in need. By embracing such ideas, cities could revitalize downtowns, reduce homelessness, and create vibrant, accessible urban communities.
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The D.C. Council unanimously passed an emergency bill Tuesday to roll back pandemic-era eviction protections and rental-assistance policies that city leaders say have led to a crisis of unpaid rent, causing some affordable housing developments to be on the brink of foreclosure.
Under the bill, the council will undo policies that allowed people to self-certify their eligibility for ERAP and that required judges to repeatedly delay eviction proceedings if a tenant had a pending ERAP application.
Tenant advocates argued that tightening these policies will lead to more evictions and warned that the new rules could create new problems.
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D.C.'s top local lawmaker says legislative reform is needed to alleviate the crisis that has put housing providers at risk of shutting down as their tenants accrue tens of millions of dollars of unpaid rent.
Council Chairman Phil Mendelson addressed the issue publicly for the first time Monday morning during a regular media briefing. He confirmed Bisnow's report last week that he is seeking co-sponsors for draft legislation to reform D.C.'s Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which industry leaders say has been used by tenants to delay eviction proceedings while not paying rent.
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An under-the-radar tweak to Washington, D.C.'s Emergency Rental Assistance Program passed in 2022 created a loophole that is at the heart of the existential crisis engulfing the District's affordable housing sector.
The new rule barred tenants from being evicted from their homes as long as they had a pending application for ERAP funds, and it removed judges' discretion to weigh whether a tenant has hope of receiving assistance or whether it would cover their debt.
Landlords say tenants and their attorneys have taken advantage of the rule and collectively racked up millions in unpaid rent that there is no hope of recouping.
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When Adrian Washington announced last month that he was shutting down his prolific D.C. affordable housing development firm, the news was a shock to many and left the thousands of residents in Neighborhood Development Co.'s buildings in limbo.
It was also a warning.
NDC's collapse wasn't an isolated incident. The owners of tens of thousands of income-restricted apartments are at risk of losing their properties, jeopardizing the future of affordable housing in the nation's capital.
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D.C.-based developer Neighborhood Development Co. is shutting down after 25 years of building affordable housing, attributing the move to today's difficult market conditions.
The company announced the news on its website with a message dated Aug. 23, saying it was “ending its operations and the operations of its affiliates” as of September 30. The announcement doesn't appear to have been widely distributed or previously reported.
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Research confirms that there are large benefits in saying yes to tall buildings, yes to multifamily structures, yes to dense single-family development and yes to speedy permitting. The growing YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard) movement already has high-profile wins in Minnesota, Oregon, California and beyond, but even YIMBY devotees rarely appreciate the scope of the merits of loosening rules on housing.
What would happen if homebuilders could once again freely build until housing prices were driven back down to cost? According to a conservative estimate, prices would ultimately fall about 50 percent on average nationally — with significant, wide-ranging implications.
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Across California, efforts to address the homelessness crisis by building more affordable housing with government money have been plagued by sky-high costs. SDS, an investment firm, is financing construction of its L.A. building, scheduled to open in June, with a $190 million fund it raised to build an estimated 2,000 units for formerly homeless people in the city with mental-health and other medical needs. It is one of several such efforts venturing into an affordable-housing market that for decades has been dominated by developers and nonprofits that cobble together public funding and typically move at a snail’s pace.
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For years, the Yimbytown conference was an ideologically safe space where liberal young professionals could talk to other liberal young professionals about the particular problems of cities with a lot of liberal young professionals. But the vibes and crowd were surprisingly different at this year’s meeting. In addition to vegan lunches and name tags with preferred pronouns, the conference included — even celebrated — a group that had until recently been unwelcome: red-state Republicans.
Read MoreTaking stock of the housing crisis in D.C. and across the country, it’s not difficult to see that something has to change: As housing and living costs rise, more people than ever are spending at least half of their income on rent. More than one in ten D.C. residents face housing insecurity, and demand for housing programs, like emergency rental assistance, remains sky-high.
Read MoreIn the heart of New York City's housing crisis lies a challenge: how to provide adequate homes for its growing population without compromising the city's unique character. The solution may not be as daunting as it seems. My architecture firm, Practice for Architecture and Urbanism, collaborated with Times Opinion to envision a future that accommodates the city's need for housing while preserving its iconic skyline and neighborhood integrity.
Read MoreStructures like tenements on the Lower East Side, brownstones in Brooklyn Heights, and quaint buildings in Astoria not only tell a story of my ancestry but also reflect a broader narrative of the city's evolution. Yet, this preservation of the physical city comes at a cost. The same buildings that connect us to New York's rich history are also part of a complex web of laws and regulations that hinder new construction, contributing to the city's acute housing shortage.
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