Here’s what a major downtown developer had to say about Denver’s affordable housing fund
It’s great.
It’s great.
Jonathan Rose, the developer who rehabilitated the Denver Dry Goods building at 16th and California, has a new book out called “The Well-Tempered City” and he spoke with the Denver Post’s Emilie Rusch this week.
The whole interview is worth your time and touches on a lot of topics related to the future of cities. He had a few things to say about affordable housing that are ofĀ particular interest as the Denver City Council prepares for a final vote on a new permanent affordable housing fund.
On building mixed-income projects:Ā “…Ā affordableĀ housingĀ has very low risk. Itās always 100 percentĀ full because thereāsĀ such a huge need for it. Thereās very advantageousĀ financingĀ for it. When one does a mixed-income project,Ā it actually lowers some of the risk.Ā I like the financial model.”
On the affordable housing fund:Ā “What the Denver City CouncilĀ is doing is exactlyĀ right. They need to create economic resources. …Ā If a city doesnāt have its ownĀ economicĀ plan, its own wayĀ to raise money, it willĀ never solve or even begin to solve its affordableĀ housing issues.”
On what else the city could do: “Zoning that requiresĀ larger amount of affordable housing within walking distance of mass transit would be really useful so peopleĀ canĀ have inexpensiveĀ access to jobs.”