Monday, February 1, 2016

Why a Houston Workforce Housing Plan is Urgently Needed!

Over the span of a few weeks in October 2015, Houstonians were horrified by news reporting of the horrendous condition of the Crestmont Village Apartments. From reports of leaking sewage, to loss of power due to non-payment by the landlord, the dire situation at that apartment complex displayed why the City of Houston needs to act urgently to begin addressing the affordable housing challenge its residents face. The apartment story is an example of well-intentioned plans gone awry. An out-of-town developer purchased an aging apartment complex during the economic downturn, with intentions of completing some minor upgrades and turning it into a cashflow positive property. The repairs never materialized, and within a short period of time, the complex spiraled into significant disrepair, leaving behind a declining property.

The proliferation of substandard apartment complexes is not an uncommon phenomenon, as various parts of Houston are littered with them. This has been brought about in part by the significant number of apartments developed during the economic boom of the 1970’s outliving their usable lives. As the economy contracted during the 1980’s, landlord’s rushed to fill their apartments with any readily available tenants, often paying less attention to management and maintenance, while surrounding neighborhoods fell into decline as homeowners fled to the suburbs.

In the case of Crestmont Village, we have a community that has undergone significant decline over the last three decades, with schools that have fallen behind, and no significant public or private investment made in over twenty years; the current reconstruction of Sterling High School being one of the few exceptions. Similar stories ring true for many communities throughout the Houston area, where places that were once vibrant have been left with boarded-up homes, overgrown lots, declining infrastructure, and substandard housing structures as their housing stock.

The City can and must act to redress this situation by developing an affordable housing plan, as part of a broader community reinvestment effort, towards creating what former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker described as a seamless city. Houston City Council passed a general plan for the City in 2015. Alongside the plan should be a comprehensive reinvestment strategy, where the City utilizes public dollars to invest in workforce housing, elimination of blight, and improvements to public infrastructure and amenities i.e. parks, sidewalks, and drainage. The plan should establish a 10-year goal of developing 100,000 new affordable workforce multifamily housing, and construction of 65,000 single-family housing units for working families within the City’s urban core.

These goals can be accomplished by leveraging local and federal housing dollars, repositioning public-owned land for development, and leveraging private funds in partnership with private builders and developers to accelerate the construction of new housing units. The City can further tap into “homegrown” investment dollars by partnering with local banks in meeting their Community Reinvestment Act obligations, and by working with the City’s Police, Municipal, Fire, and METRO pension funds to encourage reinvestment in the Houston community. The City, furthermore, should offer tax abatement for workforce housing development, invest in building infrastructure in areas undergoing significant revitalization, provide incentives for tearing down dilapidated structures, and lower the barrier of entry by providing fast-track permitting for workforce housing developments. These steps taken in concert will enable the City provide quality housing for low-to-moderate income families, expand the City's property tax base, and return our neighborhoods to the vibrant livable communities they deserve to be.


Laolu Davies-Yemitan is a real estate broker/developer who specializes in housing, multifamily development, and urban-suburban revitalization. He editorializes on issues related to real estate, policy, and workforce housing. LaoluD.blogspot.com; Twitter: @laoludavies

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