Originally Posted by
WestCoastPerspective
Condo and townhome development near the Broadway Market? From $75k to $125? What would the subsidy be for THAT?
Why would there need to be a subsidy? There are more than enough people renting on their own in the city AND people who are living in "rentals" via public money.
Here is how I would do it. Provide TAX BREAKS instead of giving SUBSIDIES. Have a developer come in and build 300 units on the site across the street from the Broadway Market. We both live in CA and know what these developments look like.
Give the developers tax breaks to be passed on to the owners. Similar to what happened on the water. Out of the 300 units, place make 75 of those units townhomes and the other 225 2-3 bedroom condos. Since this would be a connecting development, create STRICT HOA regulation to control the quality of life so to speak.
Place the townhomes and 100 of the units on the open market with tax breaks. Take the other 125 units and rent them to the BMHA. This would take them out of the housing business and just act as a conduit of funds. Since there would be strick regulation via HOA rules, the same challenges found in housing projects could be eliminated.
Additional to this, this would place at least 600 residents on a parcel of land that is currently empty. Similar plots on adjacent streets only contain 40 homes. Mostly Buffalo doubles. I would say, if 100% occupied, that would be around 320 residents. Right there you would double your population density.
Additional to this, you would increase the value of surrounding homes AND create the need to retail in the area to increase and increase the usage of existing retail like the Broadway market. This would increase the tax revenue from this section of town.
Hundreds of subsidized homes have been built on adjacent blocks- and unlike the scattered homes in Masten and Cold Springs (and the Burke Homes built east of Jefferson)- the foreclosure rate is low. This is likely one of the most stable neighborhoods, albeit low density, on the east side.
Home are the problem. Single family homes are counter productive to urban areas that are facing decay. They, by way of construction, lower the population density of an area and do not create a community as dense population would in both areas.
Building single family homes says we are competing with the better parts of the city and the suburbs. This is a fight that is never going to be one. What needs to happen are dense pockets of development centered around transportation and exiting retail corridors and work your way out.
Towne Garden Plaza is just a few blocks from Sycamore Village, there is a deli on Broadway at Jefferson- one block away (and perhaps a few others within walking distance), another at Jefferson and Peckham, and a Rite Aid at Jefferson/William; this isn't Machias folks.
This area does not need a deli. We know the pricing structure for those. This area needs a grocery store that charges a realistic amount for a pound of ham or a can of corn. Those places charge what they do because they know thier customers have little choice. Other businesses simply will not come in because there are not enough people.
Say for example a dry cleaner. Say 10% of the area would use a dry cleaning service on a weekly basis. When there are 500 people living in walking distance, you have 50 customers. When there are 1000 people, you have 100 customers. That 50 customer swing can be the difference between opening up a shop or not. Keeping it open or closing.
I get the subsidy argument. I also cringe that the homes are being built on remediated land.
There is a lot of it in Buffalo. I agree. They should have just let it become a park.
These buyers aren't debating whether to purchase a new build priced at $200k or a two-family fixer on Woltz Avenue. It's a new home with a yard in Sycamore Village, or a Ryan home in Lakeview.