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Mez1991 t1_j0gdfmu wrote

Reply to comment by DistrictBaguette in DC's old Vanguard building to be converted into downtown apartments by Maxcactus

15 percent of the 163 units will be affordable. That’s 24 more affordable housing units downtown than the zero there would have been without this project.

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swampoodler t1_j0ge3l6 wrote

This is a good way of looking at it.

If we continue to push for remote work and refitting old office spaces into apartments, the overall benefit for everyone is much higher than it would have been otherwise.

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DistrictBaguette t1_j0gh2qo wrote

Glad there’s some affordable unit, however, the addition of more luxury apartments will artificially push up the average rate of rentals and will raise continue to make all units in the city less affordable.

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__main__py t1_j0glt52 wrote

Do you have a source for this? Because everything I have read states literally the opposite, that increasing housing supply reduces cost increases on existing housing.

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johnbrownbody t1_j0gjkop wrote

> the addition of more luxury apartments will artificially push up the average rate of rentals and will raise continue to make all units in the city less affordable.

Having more units available will mean lower market prices all else equal..

I cannot parse the second half of your sentence, but if you are arguing that having more units will make units less affordable, I (and the relevant literature) disagree that building more units makes units more expensive.

There are 24 more affordable housing units in the city if this conversion occurs, sounds like it'll make a big difference for some people directly and there is strong evidence that adding more units has spillover effects on rents in other buildings. Supply and demand!

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SheilaBoof t1_j0gvo1n wrote

Lapses in your logic aside, would you rather them build apartments that no one wants? It's a new building, but everything is mediocre at best and all fixtures will need to be replaced within 5 years? Maybe apartments that they can make a return on with section 8 housing?

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AlanWahn t1_j0h0bns wrote

> the addition of more luxury apartments will artificially push up the average rate of rentals

literally the opposite of this actually, increasing the housing supply decreases price pressure (however minutely). how would that even work? a new luxury apartment gets built and a rich person says "you know what? I want two expensive apartments that are both in Washington DC"?

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hannibalbaracka t1_j0h8rgp wrote

Does introducing new cars make old cars more or less expensive than they were previously?

Supply and demand skepticism literally only exists for housing, and its idiotic

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