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Q&A
Discussing affordability targets and the merits of mixed-income housing
2:36:42
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63 sec
Commissioner Dr. Lisette Nieves asks architect John Woelfling if the affordable housing he designs targets local Area Median Income (AMI). Woelfling confirms his projects typically serve very low AMIs (20-80%) but require significant subsidy, suggesting mixed-income projects might offer better cross-subsidization and resilience.
- Woelfling's projects are usually 100% affordable across low AMI bands.
- Achieving deep affordability requires substantial city subsidy.
- He posits that mixed-income buildings (e.g., 80/20 using tax incentives) could be more sustainable policy due to cross-subsidization and income diversity.
Dr. Lisette Nieves
2:36:42
As someone who's built affordable housing, have all the housing that you've built that's been affordable, has it been to the AMI of that local community?
John Woelfling
2:36:51
It has been.
2:36:53
We often I mean, like, every unit is affordable, and it's not just, like, the one thirty AMI affordable.
2:37:00
It's twenty, forty.
2:37:03
There's some 60 and some 80, maybe some hundred that offset that lower rent.
2:37:07
And one of the, I think, one of the controversial things about doing these all affordable housing projects is that it takes a lot of city subsidy to do those.
2:37:15
If you do have a more mixed income, like, an eighty twenty or using the four twenty one a or the four eighty five w or 45 x program, Those two populations can cross subsidize each other.
2:37:26
I think that actually is better housing policy to have a mix of incomes within buildings and within communities.
2:37:32
It it allows people to stay in place.
2:37:34
It allows for more resiliency in a building's pro form a.
2:37:37
If there is some sort of problem where, you know, people can't pay rent for whatever reason, there's more ability for those buildings to survive those types of situations.