Sunday, December 21, 2014

The High Cost Of Affordable Housing


At Conifer’s senior-citizen-only affordable development in Egg Harbor City, 700- to 800-square-foot apartments cost an average of $205,000 to build. The company also is building affordable housing in Atlantic City, and it built Conifer Village at Cape May senior apartments in Lower Township, which is full and has a waiting list.

 
The 80 affordable housing units at Meadowlark Run in Rio Grande, Middle Township, are small, with basic-looking cabinetry, carpeted or laminated floors and countertops of mostly plastic laminate.
Yet they cost an average of $269,000 to build, funded mostly by federal dollars.

The developer, Conifer Realty of Mount Laurel, gets a good deal. Much of the cost of construction, done by its affiliate Conifer-LeChase Construction, is covered by the federal government in either tax credits or Hurricane Sandy relief funds.
As long as its affiliate, Conifer Management, follows state and federal rules in running the property as an affordable development for 30 years, the developer can take full ownership and the affordable restrictions go away.

Read about why these units cost so much to build, where the money comes from, government regulations for materials and labor, pre -development costs and the qualifying factors you must have if you wish to rent a unit.
Very informative article at
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/taxpayers-on-hook-for-large-portion-of-construction-cost/article_d249ee66-88bb-11e4-b4e9-638caf53cc50.html


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