San Diego is one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country. There's a huge demand for high-density housing to accommodate all the wealthy people who want to live there. California in general and San Diego in particular also is very liberal and so anyone who wants to develop property for the rich people also has to set aside a certain percentage of the value for low-income housing. For simplicity let's say 10%.
If the whole project was worth $100million, 10% of that would mean $10million in low-income housing. What used to happen is the developer would set aside the first two floors for low-income housing, because those were usually smaller and less expensive units, meaning the money went further. So $10million might turn into 100 units of low-income housing.
Well, San Diego said this was illegal, because someone could find out those floors were low-income housing and then discriminate against the people living there based on their address (nevermind the fact that this is a brand-new building in downtown San Diego where even the cheapest unit would probably sell for a million bucks).
So San Diego told developers if you want to build, you have to spread the housing against ALL unit types. Now this same development probably has 20 low-income housing units instead of 100, because the value is now spread out to include units with oceanside views, units with luxury floorplans, and even penthouse units.
This means that right now in San Diego, there are a bunch of no-income deadbeat families living rent free in a penthouse apartments with imported Italian marble countertops and stainless-steel appliances and balcony jacuzzis. Units that probably would have otherwise sold for $2.5-3million.
Just imagine if the developer had been allowed to actually sell the units he built on the open market, and then take 10% of that money and build housing somewhere other than downtown San Diego? It probably could have turned into 1000 housing units, easily.
There is no housing shortage or housing crisis in California. There's just the same liberal self-induced crisis that never solves any problems and only make everything worse.
Someone I know mention the low income housing in their building in downtown SD. The first floor was all low income housing and had shit everything. Shitty counters, shitty fixtures, not painted that great, etc. they clearly took shortcuts on the low income units. You go up floors and everything was nice/normal. Not sure when that building was made tho.
That sounds exactly like the old system. Make a ton of low-income units, but make them cheap and stick them on the lowest floor.
"That's discriminatory!" cries the council. So the projects approved within the past couple years now have to make sure their low-income units are identical to the other units, and they had to have at least one unit of every type included in the welfare-leech portfolio.
Some of these shitheels are living in better digs than the taxpayers that support them.
True story time about liberal stupidity:
San Diego is one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country. There's a huge demand for high-density housing to accommodate all the wealthy people who want to live there. California in general and San Diego in particular also is very liberal and so anyone who wants to develop property for the rich people also has to set aside a certain percentage of the value for low-income housing. For simplicity let's say 10%.
If the whole project was worth $100million, 10% of that would mean $10million in low-income housing. What used to happen is the developer would set aside the first two floors for low-income housing, because those were usually smaller and less expensive units, meaning the money went further. So $10million might turn into 100 units of low-income housing.
Well, San Diego said this was illegal, because someone could find out those floors were low-income housing and then discriminate against the people living there based on their address (nevermind the fact that this is a brand-new building in downtown San Diego where even the cheapest unit would probably sell for a million bucks).
So San Diego told developers if you want to build, you have to spread the housing against ALL unit types. Now this same development probably has 20 low-income housing units instead of 100, because the value is now spread out to include units with oceanside views, units with luxury floorplans, and even penthouse units.
This means that right now in San Diego, there are a bunch of no-income deadbeat families living rent free in a penthouse apartments with imported Italian marble countertops and stainless-steel appliances and balcony jacuzzis. Units that probably would have otherwise sold for $2.5-3million.
Just imagine if the developer had been allowed to actually sell the units he built on the open market, and then take 10% of that money and build housing somewhere other than downtown San Diego? It probably could have turned into 1000 housing units, easily.
There is no housing shortage or housing crisis in California. There's just the same liberal self-induced crisis that never solves any problems and only make everything worse.
Someone I know mention the low income housing in their building in downtown SD. The first floor was all low income housing and had shit everything. Shitty counters, shitty fixtures, not painted that great, etc. they clearly took shortcuts on the low income units. You go up floors and everything was nice/normal. Not sure when that building was made tho.
beggars can't be choosers is also true though
That sounds exactly like the old system. Make a ton of low-income units, but make them cheap and stick them on the lowest floor.
"That's discriminatory!" cries the council. So the projects approved within the past couple years now have to make sure their low-income units are identical to the other units, and they had to have at least one unit of every type included in the welfare-leech portfolio.
Some of these shitheels are living in better digs than the taxpayers that support them.