Will added capacity become homes people can buy?
The key question is what Spokane's added capacity will actually produce. Will it become small ownership homes, townhouses, and condominiums, or primarily rental apartments?
“68%, as flat a line as you can get, want single-family housing, three bedroom, two bath, small lot.”
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Finally, the housing preference study that we did. a study asking people what they wanted. For 30 years, they have wanted the exact same thing. 68%, as flat a line as you can get, want single-family housing, three bedroom, two bath, small lot.That's what they want. If they're not finding it here at an affordable price, where are they going? If you drive on Interstate 90, you will see the additional 90,000 cars a day on that freeway that have developed in the last six years, that are going over to where there is a housing boom that is going on. And price-wise, just announced in Post Falls, one to 400 units are going to go installed of affordable housing at $300,000 a home, because lots there are still about $85,000. It is supply and it is demand. And a couple of things just as I look at the commentary of what was made here. The types that were planted up, those are recommendations from commerce. Those are not recommendations, those are options. You're the one who can decide what those alternatives should be. Multifamily, as Jim said, far more expensive. The latest project in Snohomish was $586,000 per apartment unit. We can certainly build single-family density in this town that's affordable well under 60% AMI that people can afford. And then finally, I would just say, what happens when we don't build? We anticipated there would be 1,000 residential units available this year. Instead, there were only 156 residential permits that were issued. That difference, if you just built that out, what that number represents, $60 million in lost surplus revenue just for the city of Spokane, $8.5 million per year in ongoing taxes, 2,500 jobs. As I said to my daughter when she left and she was a teenager, "Please make good choices." Thank you.