Nobody is being forced to do anything, the fact that developers even undertake these projects means it works out for them. I’m not an expert on the subject, but my understanding is that they sell the tax credits and that it takes a huge bite out of the cost of construction (in PURE affordable housing buildings, sometimes even making it costless to the developer- but there’s a ton of competition for these projects as states are only given so much to give out).
A guy I work with just got one of these apartments. He said it’s subsidized and 30% under market value. He didn’t live in NYC. He lived in NJ and is moving into the city to this studio. He’s also a Russian citizen. Now I like this guy, but from a practical perspective something is wrong. Shouldn’t a citizen who already resides in a more expensive NYC apartment be moved in?
I agree, but even if the opt-in developers benefit from participating in the program, this is only because they faced higher taxes to begin with. Any benefit to developers who participate in the program is derived from a tax on other developers, which increases rents overall.
I think one issue here is that “success” in reducing inequality tends to be measured by the income distribution in a local population. So, if a current NY resident moves into low income housing, the income distribution remains the same. However, if a low income person moves into the city from outside, the income distribution will change. As others have pointed out though, there is a secondary effect of people with middle income (say $52k to $100k) getting squeezed out as unsubsidized housing prices increase…
When my wife’s Aunt Flow is staying with us I often use the backdoor.
gross
The simple matter is our big govt always tries to make life “fair”, when it fact all it does is create waste, inefficiency, and ultimately makes the lives of other good folks much worse off. Let the market take care of itself, and just control the absolute essentials.
Military? fine.
Regulating drugs? fine.
incentivizing or requiring builders to give away X% of the space to people who are nowhere near the appropriate income to live there at the cost of taxpayers, and hardworking folks who actually could afford it but now you pushed them out because of this asinine plan to make life “fair” ??? No.