icon Blueprint for January

The Pieces Don’t Fit

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3 min read

With some difficult puzzles, you sit sorting through the pieces seemingly forever. Can it be that there is nothing here that fits? And then, eventually, you find a fit. It was right there in front of you all the time.

This month, in our first issue of this new year, we try to fit the pieces together in a number of puzzles currently confounding our industry.

Every builder wants to be building perpetually. And walking through many cities today, you get the impression that they are. In the past few weeks, I’ve walked through San Francisco, Atlanta and New York and they all made me want to be in the rent-a-crane business. But if most of the land is taken, what’s left is more expensive. And if the labor force is in demand, its cost rises. This might be palatable for market-rate apartments where rent has no limitations. But how do you continue to build affordable housing when costs are increasing and rent is not? We sent staff writer Lauren Anderson out to see how developers are solving this puzzle. (The Burden of Rising Costs)

At a session at NH&RA’s Fall Forum in November, moderator Larry Curtis of WinnDevelopment wondered, “Can we both adhere to the Supreme Court’s disparate impact decision and preserve existing urban properties?” Serving on that session’s panel, Kate Racer, of the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, said, “The Supreme Court decision is not definitive. There are no clear pathways. People agree morally, but implementation is difficult.” These comments inspired us to ask staff writer Joel Swerdlow to investigate how people are trying to put these pieces together. (Continuing Impact of Disparate Impact).

Succession Planning is another puzzle that seems to be getting increased attention as the first generation of tax credit developers approaches retirement age. This puzzle has many complex pieces: creating a plan, company evaluation, finding the successor, sharing the news with both staff and the market. In Tricky Transitions, we look at approaches taken by two successful member companies, Beacon Communities and Great Lakes Financial.

With the current demographic drift from the center of the country to the edges, and the heightened eagerness of so many to live in such small areas, urban rents have shot up to a point where those who choose a highly risky career—such as the arts—cannot find a place for themselves. And yet the cities want to sustain the arts. They are an attraction and a benefit. Artspace, an NH&RA member development company headquartered in Minneapolis, is devoted to solving this puzzle. Staff writer Mark Olshaker visits one of their properties and meets their staff. (The Artists’ Housing Dilemma) And this month our guru, David A. Smith, tackles another urban bear—workforce housing. (The guru is in).

If you are puzzled by any of these issues, we hope our writing team this month will provide you with at least a modicum, if not more, of clarity.

Marty Bell, Editor