Metro Nashville Council Member Jeff Eslick joined Thursday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy where he discussed an ordinance proposed to the metro council that would change the zoning laws to allow for more multifamily dwellings.
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Higher rents and a reduction in pandemic assistance caused a spike in homelessness in Ohio over the past year, according to a group advocating for more affordable housing around the state.
The Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio pointed to U.S. Department of House and Urban Development data that showed more than 11,000 Ohioans homeless on one January night in 2023. That number was a 6.9% increase from the previous year’s count.
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The state of Ohio wants local governments to buy, rehabilitate, or build residential properties to improve affordable access.
The state will give local landbanks $100 million over the next 16 months to create housing for income-eligible Ohioans. It is also establishing another $50 million in nonrefundable tax credits to landbanks and developers for rehabs and new construction when the property is sold.
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Average per-unit costs were $232,000, most for one-bedroom apartments, in a review of a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program designed to build and preserve affordable housing.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Housing Trust Fund program needs better oversight, according to a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
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Eleven candidates running for Nashville mayor discussed a wide range of issues while participating in a debate hosted by FOX 17 News Monday evening.
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Connecticut lawmakers are taking aim at restrictive local zoning laws as part of a broader effort to address the state’s affordable housing crunch, but the move faces pushback from critics who say it would usurp local authority.
A proposal that’s being considered by the state Assembly would require cities and towns to conduct assessments on the need for affordable housing in their communities and come up with plans and zoning for a set number of units of affordable housing, based on the needs of the region.
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Two bills passed through the House Commerce Committee Tuesday with bipartisan support, Senate Bills (SB) 1161 & 1163, aiming to provide zoning reform to Arizona so more affordable housing can be made available.
“Big wins yesterday getting 1161 and 1163 out of House Commerce 7-3 for each bill. This is bipartisanship! R’s and D’s understand we need zoning reform in AZ,” tweeted State Senator Steve Kaiser (R-Phoenix).
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Connecticut lawmakers are debating a plan that would offer property tax relief to senior citizens who agree to deed-restrict their homes as affordable housing.
The proposal, which cleared a key vote by the Legislature’s Housing Committee earlier this month, would allow seniors with household incomes of up to 80% of the area median income to “opt-in” to a program that deed-restricts their homes as affordable. In exchange, they wouldn’t be required to pay local property taxes.
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More than two dozen cities and counties across Virginia are slated to receive a portion of nearly $100 million in federal funding for affordable housing and homelessness, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, D-VA, announced this week.
Localities across the Commonwealth are expected to receive a portion of more than $98.3 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed independent mayoral candidate for Nashville, Fran Bush in studio to talk about affordable housing and campaign financing.
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The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (TDMHSAS) recently announced its intent to distribute approximately $15 million in state funds to local community agencies and organizations that will provide housing for Tennesseans living with behavioral health challenges, recovering from addiction or re-entering society from prison.
The funding, according to TDMHSAS, will be distributed by the department’s Creating Homes Initiative (CHI) to “grantees to develop safe, quality and affordable permanent supportive housing opportunities in the communities they serve.”
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Following the news that a large Pentecostal church organization held a ribbon cutting ceremony on 20 new affordable housing units in Memphis, the city of Chattanooga has struck a similar deal with a network of churches.
“Kingdom Partners housing development group was selected by the city of Chattanooga for a grant of more than a million dollars to develop affordable housing units in Chattanooga,” according to reports. “The goal is push out 30 units over a two-year span with the help of churches and nonprofits in the area.”
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A church organization Monday held a ribbon cutting ceremony on new affordable housing units in Memphis.
The Church of God in Christ (COGIC), a Pentecostal church with more than six million members, said its new affordable housing units, 20 apartments called 280 Vance, will help lower income Memphians live downtown.
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As Connecticut has the sixth-highest median monthly housing costs, some residents and lawmakers are fiercely pursuing measures to prevent developers from building affordable housing units in their towns.
Renee Dobos, chief executive officer of Connecticut Housing Partners, told The Center Square that more than 30 years ago the General Assembly recognized steps should be taken to lead towns to recognize they have a responsibility to make housing affordable to essential workers, senior citizens, and a wide variety of others with diverse incomes.
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Renters in Connecticut are short on options with prices soaring.
“Currently, Connecticut has a shortage of 85,000 units of affordable housing for those families that earn an income of 80% or below the AMI,” Renée Dobos, CEO of Connecticut Housing Partners, told The Center Square. AMI is an acronym for area medium income.
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Housing shortages and rising rents are a national problem, and the process for building more housing, especially affordable housing, is only one of many barriers.
In Pennsylvania, rents have increased mainly in the southeast and central parts of the state. As The Center Square previously reported, a report from pro-housing group Up for Growth estimated Pennsylvania has underproduced 98,000 units of housing. Statewide, rents increased by 14% from 2020 to 2021.
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In the Pennsylvania economy today, employers struggle with finding enough workers, rising prices, and enough affordable housing for their workers.
Rising prices, employee and supply shortages, wage surcharges, and “escalating energy prices” puts “a strain on our survival,” said David Crouse, owner of 3C’s family restaurant in the Pottsville area.
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Increasing affordable housing in Arizona is the focus of the bipartisan Housing Supply Study Committee, which held its first meeting Tuesday at the state capitol.
The committee was created in order to, “review data on the scope of housing supply and access in Arizona, compile an overview of ways to address Arizona’s housing shortage and to mitigate its causes, and solicit ideas and opinions of industry and subject matter experts and the community on additional recommendations.”
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Amazon will invest $10.6 million to help build and renovate more than 130 affordable homes in Nashville, the company announced Wednesday. Amazon is working in partnership with the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA) and supporting the social work of the local nonprofit CrossBridge Inc.
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Democrats in Connecticut’s state House of Representatives are offering legislation they say will facilitate affordable housing and “racial justice,” though opponents of the measures say they will merely hamper local control of development.
One bill would mandate that municipalities permit housing containing a minimum of 15 dwelling units per acre within half-mile radiuses of rail stations. At least 10 percent of the units in such areas would be required to meet the state’s definition of affordable housing, i.e. that it costs an occupant no more than one third of his or her annual income.
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Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the mayor of Waverly, Tennessee, Buddy Frazier to the newsmakers line to recount the damage of the city’s August 21st flooding and ongoing recovery efforts.
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Florida progressives are calling on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to declare a state of emergency regarding housing affordability, and DeSantis is redirecting the angst toward President Joe Biden (D) and Democrats whose policies, he says, are raising rent costs.
More than approximately two dozen Florida Democrat lawmakers penned a letter saying Floridians can no longer afford to pay rent and called on Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) to “enact price gouging consumer protections for renters.”
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Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Metro Council Member-At-Large, Steve Glover on the newsmakers line to discuss affordable housing spending in Nashville.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he is no longer waiting on the federal government to move take action on a “deplorable” subsidized housing complex in Jacksonville. DeSantis slammed the “lack of interest” from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for allowing the living conditions to become so run down that rats have infested the complex.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced plans to spend $100 million of federal stimulus money on affordable housing.
According to the governor’s claims, the proposal would assist 6,000 Michiganders, produce 2,000 rental housing units, and leverage an additional $380 million in private funding while creating 1,600 jobs.
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Nashville’s Affordable Housing Task Force declared that racial equity, antiracism, and reparations are several goals for affordable housing development. These goals were outlined in Nashville Mayor John Cooper’s affordable housing report, published Wednesday. The task force wrote in the report that these goals would bolster their recommendations, leading to significant progress for the next four years.
“Racial inequity permeates Nashville’s past and present – and housing is no exception. While existing Fair Housing policies are intended to protect vulnerable communities, many Black and Brown Nashvillians still face housing discrimination,” read the task force report. “Current status-quo practices and policies continue to perpetuate harm, so we must intentionally work to design and implement solutions that are anti-racist both in outcomes and processes.” [emphasis added]
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Affordable housing in Metro Nashville received an additional $9.4 million boost for 335 new houses and 90 home preservations. Metro Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced these latest funds in a Wednesday press release.
“We know Nashville’s affordable housing needs are urgent, and we know solving this problem requires an all-hands-on-deck approach,” stated Cooper.
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The city of Knoxville plans to fund over $50 million for affordable housing over the next decade, according to legislation proposed by the mayor. The Affordable Housing Fund, as promulgated by Mayor Indya Kincannon, will commit a minimum of $5 million annually for the next decade to develop affordable housing.
The Knoxville City Council is considering the legislation that would make Kincannon’s goal possible. The legislation would create a trust fund account called the “Knoxville affordable housing fund.” If passed, the new fund will take effect immediately.
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Amazon pledged a portion of $2 billion to provide affordable housing within the Nashville community for lower-income families. The remainder of the Housing Equity Fund will be granted to expand affordable housing opportunities within two of its headquarter locations in Washington and Virginia.
According to their press release, Amazon’s funding will impact 20,000 homes in the areas surrounding those three locations.
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Richmond Mayor Levi Stoney proposed a “racially equitable” affordable housing plan on Tuesday.
The mayor will give a majority of the city-owned land parcels to Maggie Walker Community Land Trust. The organization’s mission statement is “to foster racially equitable communities” within their constructed affordable housing.
A new Triton poll finds decidedly liberal Davidson County is solidly against Mayor John Cooper’s proposed 32 percent property tax hike. The poll is available here. It was conducted last Thursday and Friday by Triton Polling & Research and was paid for by Nashville Smart, a local 501(c)(4). Lonnie Spivak, an election expert, is with Nashville Smart. He spoke with The Tennessee Star about the poll Monday. Spivak also will be on Tuesday morning’s The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am. On Monday, Spivak said Nashville Smart, as a 501(c)(4), has no position on whether the tax increase should pass, and that it commissioned the poll for informational purposes. “We wanted to judge what the public opinion of the tax increase is going into the budget season,” Spivak said. “Metro Council doesn’t have the resources to poll.” The Triton poll sampled 769 registered voters, with 53.5 percent identifying as Democrat, 28.8 percent Republican, 15.3 percent Independent and 2.4 percent Not Sure/Undecided. Mayor Cooper had a 47.1 percent favorable rating, 25.6 percent unfavorable, and 25.7 had heard of him but had no opinion. Regarding Cooper’s…
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A Maryland legislator wants to identify affluent suburban neighborhoods and target them for low-income, high-density housing.
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by Audrey Conklin President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to establish a new council for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that focuses on affordable housing. The White House Council on Eliminating Barriers to Affordable Housing, chaired by HUD Secretary Ben Carson, will work with state and local governments to “identify and remove the obstacles that impede the production of affordable homes — namely, the enormous price tag[s] that follow burdensome government regulations,” HUD explained in a press release. California HUD Regional Public Affairs Officer Eduardo Cabrera told the Daily Caller News Foundation that while it’s important to get things done without funding, “we know now that 25% of expenses with new housing are related to regulations” that can be cut if they are properly identified. Today @realDonaldTrump signed an Executive Order establishing a White House Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing led by @SecretaryCarson. By removing burdensome regulations, we can reduce housing costs & strengthen communities! pic.twitter.com/t77FTzeGgX — GOP (@GOP) June 25, 2019 “Burdensome regulations make construction more expensive and time-consuming,” Cabrera explained. More than 25% of the money used to build a new home is the result of federal, state and…
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Metro Nashville Mayor David Briley announced a $750 million affordable housing program on Tuesday. The “Under One Roof 2029” program will create 10,000 new units of affordable housing in 10 years, Briley said, according to a story by WKRN. The city plans to contribute $500 million of the total $750 million. Briley asked for the private sector to chip in $250 million with such tools as a real estate investment trust, WKRN said. NewsChannel 5 quoted the mayor as saying, “Nashville is thriving in many ways, and that is a good thing as growth creates better-paying jobs and generates revenue for schools, roads, parks and libraries,” Mayor Briley said. “Yet the true measure of a great city is how it treats all of its citizens – making sure growth is balanced by continuing to invest in people. The Under One Roof 2029 initiative will help ensure we all move forward together.” Under the plan, Nashville will give Metro Development and Housing Agency $350 million for overhauling and adding units, the Nashville Post said. Nashville will give $150 million to the Barnes Fund to create a minimum of 5,000 units. Fox News 17 provided a Facebook video of the announcement, which is…
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Nashville’s housing agency plans to rehab two properties even as the city takes over public housing from the federal government. The Nashville Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency will release its 600-page five-year plan to the federal government soon, Nashville Public Radio reports. The plan overview is available here. Council will consider it next Tuesday. The developments slated for an overhaul are J.C. Napier and Tony Sudekum. Much of the focus is on transforming an area adjacent to Fort Negley from low-income into apartments rented to low, moderate and higher income residents. It’s estimated to cost nearly $600 million dollars, Nashville Public Radio says. MDHA is using a federal policy that transfers ownership of housing property from the federal government to local agencies, allowing them to take out loans. In June the city broke ground on a 40-townhome affordable housing community in the Bordeaux Redevelopment District, WKRN recently reported. Target renters may be police officers or teachers who make up to 120 percent of the area’s median income.
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The Wall Street Journal has taken notice of how Nashville is becoming gentrified and is in danger of becoming a “chic urban playground for the wealthy.” James Fraser, an urban studies professor at Vanderbilt University, told The Wall Street Journal the city needs 30,000 more units of affordable housing and should spend $1 billion to meet the demand. Working people are being pushed to outer suburbs and rely on buses to reach their jobs, while wealthier people are moving into inner neighborhoods, he said. Affordable housing has long been a benefit of living in the South, said Laurel Graefe, deputy regional executive of the Nashville branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. While corporate incentives and low taxation are still attractive, housing demand has outstripped supply, raising prices. From 2008 to 2018, housing values, based on a weighted measure of all transactions in the housing market, rose 75 percent in Nashville, compared with 33 percent in Charlotte, according to the Brookings Institution. The Wall Street Journal story discussed the trend of tearing down older homes and building “tall skinnies”—multistory homes geared toward wealthier home buyers. Much of the issue is from rapid economic growth, the story says. The Nashville…
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The Beacon Center of Tennessee is taking Metro Nashville government to court, claiming that a new affordable housing law is illegal and unconstitutional. The Nashville-based think tank, which promotes free markets, filed a lawsuit last week in Davidson County Chancery Court. The suit was filed on behalf of the Home Builders Association of Middle Tennessee. The suit challenges an inclusionary zoning ordinance passed by the Metro Council in September 2016. With limited exceptions, the law requires homebuilders to set aside part of their developments for affordable or workforce housing or pay a fee. Megan Barry, Nashville’s Democratic mayor, has made affordable housing one of her signature issues. “As anyone who has been paying attention knows, a government program that begins with the term affordable is typically anything but,” the Beacon Center said in a blog post. “Look no further than the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. That redistribution of wealth scheme has left working-class Americans with astronomically higher prices and fewer health insurance options, all in exchange for a worthless guarantee that it will be more ‘affordable.’ ‘Affordable’ housing is essentially the Obamacare of housing.” Developers will pass on the costs of creating affordable housing to buyers and renters, according…
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