Vestcor at it again - Lofts at Cathedral

[thelakelander]

The term "workforce" is meant to connote those who are gainfully employed, a group of people who are not typically understood to be the target of affordable housing programs. Workforce housing, then, implies an altered or expanded understanding of affordable housing. Workforce housing is commonly targeted at "essential workers" in a community i.e. police officers, firemen, teachers, nurses, medical personnel. Some communities define "essential" more broadly to include service workers, as in the case of resort communities where one finds high real estate costs and a high number of low-paying service jobs essential to the local economy. Workforce housing may be targeted more generally at certain income levels regardless of type of employment, with definitions ranging from 50% to 120% of Area Median Income (AMI).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workforce_housing

https://www.multifamilyexecutive.com/property-management/demographics/mfe-question-what-exactly-is-workforce-housing_o

[Adam White]

The term "workforce" is meant to connote those who are gainfully employed, a group of people who are not typically understood to be the target of affordable housing programs. Workforce housing, then, implies an altered or expanded understanding of affordable housing. Workforce housing is commonly targeted at "essential workers" in a community i.e. police officers, firemen, teachers, nurses, medical personnel. Some communities define "essential" more broadly to include service workers, as in the case of resort communities where one finds high real estate costs and a high number of low-paying service jobs essential to the local economy. Workforce housing may be targeted more generally at certain income levels regardless of type of employment, with definitions ranging from 50% to 120% of Area Median Income (AMI).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workforce_housing

https://www.multifamilyexecutive.com/property-management/demographics/mfe-question-what-exactly-is-workforce-housing_o

Thanks, Lake. Sorry for not doing the research myself.

[MusicMan]

Lake, please provide link to REV grant info for Catalyst.  This is first I have heard that any of the San Marco project (Home Street SoBa) will be less than market rate units.

[thelakelander]

Here you go!

Also on Aug. 23, the Community Redevelopment Agency board approved a $2.53 million REV (Recapture Enhanced Value) Grant, which represents 75 percent of the property taxes to be collected and paid out over 15 years.

In exchange for the grant, CDP Home Street LLC will allocate 10 percent of the units for workforce housing – housing that is affordable for households with an earned income which is insufficient to secure quality housing within a reasonable proximity to a workplace, such as Downtown Jacksonville.

https://residentnews.net/2017/10/09/new-multi-family-housing-gets-dia-thumbs/

[Captain Zissou]

 

[Captain Zissou]

In regards to nobody being downtown, today was great with all the trick or treaters walking around.  I don't know if it had an impact on businesses, but there were plenty of people on the street and everyone looked like they were having a great time.

[ProjectMaximus]

Here you go!

Also on Aug. 23, the Community Redevelopment Agency board approved a $2.53 million REV (Recapture Enhanced Value) Grant, which represents 75 percent of the property taxes to be collected and paid out over 15 years.

In exchange for the grant, CDP Home Street LLC will allocate 10 percent of the units for workforce housing – housing that is affordable for households with an earned income which is insufficient to secure quality housing within a reasonable proximity to a workplace, such as Downtown Jacksonville.

https://residentnews.net/2017/10/09/new-multi-family-housing-gets-dia-thumbs/

OMG!! What's this gonna do to San Marco and the Southbank!! Can they afford appetizers at bbs??

[Bill Hoff]

I really don't get the resistance to workforce housing. It's not like it'll make the current underpopulated downtown worse, or hold up luxury developments.

People equate workforce & affordable housing with the low income housing projects they see & hear about, that's why.

SOME....people. The worse thing we can do in the revitalization process is to make decisions based on a perspective by a small group of people that have not looked at the bigger picture or seriously considered perspectives, cultures and economic classes that they may not be personally familiar with. In reality, W=what Vesctor is doing in downtown isn't unique to Jacksonville. Incorporating affordable and workforce housing in cities is a national issue right now.

I was not suggesting that decisions are made on that misperception, just answering his question.

If they wanted to avoid the stigma, they could simply use another adjective to describe it. Middle class housing, etc.

[tufsu1]

This is the property that Balanky had a proposal for, correct?  As part of that project, the original Y building was to stay, but the smaller building would have been demolished.

correct - he walked away from it - I think reusing the YWCA building may have scared him a bit

The Cathedral itself formed a non-profit that will work to revitalize the whole district - Ginny Myrick is heading that up and originally brought Balanky in.

[thelakelander]

I was suggesting that decisions are made on that misperception, just answering his question.

If they wanted to avoid the stigma, they could simply use another adjective to describe it. Middle class housing, etc.

In reality, I don't think they care or are bothered by those that who are concerned about it. On many occasions they've actually bragged about having the foresight to include affordable and workforce housing now, as opposed to other cities that are struggling with this issue.

[MusicMan]

Does the grant have to be repaid?  Can this be used any way CDP wants?

[thelakelander]

I don't know the details of how it's structured but it sounds like there's an effort on the DIA's part to include workforce housing in as many projects as possible.

[fieldafm]

The irony that the Symphony guy is complaining that there are too many 'workforce housing' units being built downtown, and that those people can't afford Symphony tickets and eat $60 steaks beforehand.

When downtown Jacksonville was at its healthiest level of vibrancy, the urban core had plenty of 'workforce housing'. Then the City started tearing down and essentially eliminating whole swaths of neighborhoods where this 'workforce housing' existed. Since 1960, the pre-consolidated city limits (what is considered Jacksonville's 'urban core') has lost basically 60% of its pre-consolidated population. Meanwhile, there are more people living in the CBD today, than there were in 1960 (during 'peak urban vibrancy'). Maybe then its less about how many expensive housing units can be fit in the CBD in order to achieve this mythical '10k downtown residents' many people blindly cheerlead about, and more about repopulating the entire core with a healthy mix of housing options and residents of varying demographic profiles... you know, kind of like that mixed-income neighborhood that has a diverse demographic profile and whose commercial and residential areas are red-hot called 'Riverside'?

[Tacachale]

The irony that the Symphony guy is complaining that there are too many 'workforce housing' units being built downtown, and that those people can't afford Symphony tickets and eat $60 steaks beforehand.

When downtown Jacksonville was at its healthiest level of vibrancy, the urban core had plenty of 'workforce housing'. Then the City started tearing down and essentially eliminating whole swaths of neighborhoods where this 'workforce housing' existed. Since 1960, the pre-consolidated city limits (what is considered Jacksonville's 'urban core') has lost basically 60% of its pre-consolidated population. Meanwhile, there are more people living in the CBD today, than there were in 1960 (during 'peak urban vibrancy'). Maybe then its less about how many expensive housing units can be fit in the CBD, and more about repopulating the entire core with a healthy mix of housing options and residents of varying demographic profiles... you know, kind of like that mixed-income neighborhood that has a diverse demographic profile and whose commercial and residential areas are red-hot called 'Riverside'?

Not that it's a very high bar, but street level vibrancy Downtown is also the highest it's been in decades. It doesn't seem to have been negatively impacted by the workforce and low income housing that has been built in the last few years.

[fieldafm]

You can add bells and whistles like community amenities and upgraded finishes/appliances, etc... but generally the costs to build market-rate multifamily structures and affordable/workforce housing multifamily structures are fairly similar.  The difference to the developer, is that they need X amount of rents in order to generate a return that is sufficient to make building the development profitable to its investors and lenders. If X amount is above what the median income resident can afford (which is absolutely the case in the context of today's construction costs), then there has to be some sort of subsidy in order to fill that gap.

Typically, low income tax credits, REV grants, and the like are the way to make up that difference... these mechanisms are 'payable' over a set period (10 to 15 years), and act as a form of upfront capital contribution to the developer to make up for the hole in the proforma when units are rented at below-market-rate levels. In almost all cases, these 'grants' have a pay-for-performance structure- whereas the tax credit (in the case of the REV Grant, its a reduction in the project's property tax liability) is only earned in a given year if the required number of housing units are rented at a below-market-rate level (that rate is dependant upon the program's structure- whether it be 'affordable' or 'workforce' and the makeup of the area's median income levels in any given year).   

So no, this isn't a situation where DIA has given the developer cash to use however they want it. The developer can get X number of years of reduced property taxes as long as a set number of units are rented under a qualified workforce housing criteria.