#affordable-housing

#affordable-housing

We spend a lot of time on this podcast covering Oakland's challenges - budget crises, crime statistics, political turmoil. That's important. But it's not the full story of what's happening in this city. When we launched this newsroom, we made a commitment to reporting that reflects the value of Oakland. Along with our accountability and watchdog journalism, we share real news about real change that's making Oakland better.

CB2's Land Use Committee voted against the proposal for the 27-story development, which would rise from a landmarked Fort Greene church. After more than a year of speculation about the future of the landmarked Hanson Place Central United Methodist Church in Fort Greene, plans are now clear: The owners want to use the church's shell as the base of a 27-story, 240-unit apartment tower that would rise beside the iconic Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower.

Zohran Mamdani wants to make sure that all of his constituents have affordable housing, universal child care and boyfriends who don't make them cringe.

The Los Gatos Planning Commission approved several cost-saving measures for the developers of the North 40 to help ensure that the number of affordable housing units in the second phase of the project doesn't decrease any further. The commission voted 5-2 on Oct. 29 to agree to conditions of approval that would enable developers Grosvenor Property Americas to complete regrading the site and building 127 for-sale townhomes before the nonprofit Eden Housing can construct a 67-unit affordable housing building.

On Tuesday, New Yorkers voted to pass three housing ballot proposals to amend the city's charter, streamlining the approvals process for several types of developments. The ballot measures, which passed by about 20 percent (nearly 60 percent in favor, and a little over 40 percent against), with about 91 percent of the vote counted, were perhaps not as closely scrutinized as the mayoral polls, but they represent a major change in how the city builds housing,

The Sax consists of two interconnected towers that truly live up to their musical namesake. The taller "Havana" tower soars 180 meters across 55 stories, while its companion "Philadelphia" reaches 82 meters with 26 floors. The towers are dramatically connected by a golden skybridge spanning six stories, creating what MVRDV describes as a "saxophone-like silhouette" that will serve as a beacon on Rotterdam's evolving waterfront.

It aims to expand affordable housing supply by providing states and local governments with greater flexibility to fund housing development and preservation. America is in the midst of a housing crisis as families struggle to live the American dream due to the shortage of millions of homes, said Flood. The HOME program is a federal program that builds housing supply, but it has previously been weighed down by regulatory burdens that make it hard to build housing.

I'm 75 now, but if I told my dad I'm getting old, he would laugh. He didn't slow down until he was about 94, and he was 100 when he died last December. Dad wouldn't want me sitting still in my old age, so this year I'm leading the 39th Annual Habitat for Humanity Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project in his honor. I cried during the opening ceremony, because it's the first time the work project has happened since my father died.

"Playland at 43rd Avenue,"

Boston has granted building permits to another office-to-housing conversion, this time in the South End. Developers are converting a former office building at 615 Albany St. into 24 apartments as part of the city's effort to transform underused commercial space into much-needed housing. It is one of 19 projects participating in Boston's office-to-residential incentive program, which aims to revitalize downtown by replacing outdated offices with homes.

Sup. Jackie Fielder is asking the board to approve a resolution calling on the city treasurer to move forward to create a municipal green bank. The supes have already approved the concept, and Fielder has five cosponsors, so unless one member objects and demands that the proposal be sent to committee, this will pass. That would start the process of figuring out how to pay for what could become the country's first municipal bank.

But in the final days before it was approved in 2016, the developer's lawyer added a sweetener to the deal: Podell promised to cover $500,000 of the costs to build out a community art space at a 100-percent affordable-housing project next door. He had earlier donated land to the city to make that affordable housing project possible. The project was voted through 11-0.

Rents are too high, homeownership feels out of reach, and too many families are being pushed out of the communities that raised them. Over the past three years, we've expanded affordable homeownership, funded more housing vouchers, and saved 114 units in East Boston from speculation which kept hundreds of neighbors in their homes. But the work isn't finished. I'll continue pushing for innovative housing solutions that build for the inclusion of all families while strengthening community voices in every stage of development.

The project includes a seven-story, 505-unit market-rate apartment building, a five-story, 132-unit, 100% affordable apartment building and 100 for-sale townhouse units configured in 14 three-story buildings. This site's been vacant for many years, and when we were first introduced to this site about two and a half years ago, it was in the time when builders' remedy applications seeking to lower density were abundant, said Scott Connelly, a representative of Valley Oaks Partners.

More and more year-round employees, from hospital staff to teachers and restaurant workers, are being priced out of the Cape and Islands, leaving communities scrambling to find ways to keep them housed. Local officials say they've pursued nearly every option available - from state and federal housing grants to zoning reforms to even building out sewers to support more housing - but the problem keeps outpacing the solutions. Now, they say, it comes down to funding.

Maybe you've heard about the socialist candidate running for mayor of New York City. He's an immigrant from a complicated ethnic background, and his opponents accuse him of being unpatriotic, anti-American, a Communist agent and a supporter of overseas terrorist movements. Some have suggested that electing him mayor will make antisemitic bigotry - already far too widespread in America - much worse, and is likely to fuel a vicious, jingoistic right-wing backlash.

Local News The new zoning rules aim to boost housing and revitalize the city's struggling commercial core. In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the Boston Zoning Commission approved new regulations allowing taller buildings downtown - a key part of the city's plan to revive the struggling commercial core. The 10-0 vote marks the final step beyond the mayor's signature in a close to seven-year effort to modernize downtown zoning rules.

Getting spades in the ground in London is crucial if we want to see the biggest increase in social and affordable housing and meet our target of delivering 1.5m homes. I have worked closely with the mayor of London to give the capital the shot-in-the-arm it needs to ensure more Londoners have an affordable home of their own.

Facchino Neighborhood broke ground on Oct 20th in Berryessa, which will transform a 13-acre industrial site at 1655 Berryessa Road into over 700 residential units. Property owner Bob Facchino personally operated an excavator to begin demolishing the building that once housed his family's trucking business for more than 50 years, calling the moment bittersweet yet necessary for progress. This redevelopment, near the Berryessa BART station that opened in 2020, aligns with plans for an urban village that integrates housing with transit accessibility.

I've been involved in federal housing policy for more than 50 years, beginning my career at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the 1970s and later serving on the staff of the U.S. House Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs now the Financial Services Committee from 1983 to 2000. Over that time, I've watched the federal government's role in housing shift dramatically from builder to partner to convener.

"I'm appreciative that those measures are on the ballot," Mr. Mamdani said, filling his 60-second answer with platitudes and grand promises of more construction.

"I watched the first debate," said one voter. "It was like a kangaroo court. Everybody slinging mud. I thought they would be speaking more about policies. I really wanted Mamdani to talk more about what he was for. I would like to hear a little deeper responses."

Shareholders of the co-op at 45 Fairview Avenue voted twice to sell a vacant lot to affordable housing developers for $7.3 million, only to back out. This came shortly after a state affordable housing agency handed the co-op a $2.5 million mortgage from its Preventative Troubled Assets Program. Then this year, the state Assembly awarded Inwood Gardens $500,000. At the same time the co-op was rejecting my offer to acquire its land, it was accepting bailouts from the state.