City of Juneau senior planner Beth McKibben introduced a draft 2012 Comprehensive Plan to the City and Borough of Juneau Planning Commission Tuesday that calls for more housing units, particularly in the $250,000 range.
McKibben said that renters can afford to buy homes in the $250,000 range, but there are few homes in that range in Juneau. By providing homes in that price range, McKibben said, renters can graduate to home owners.
Karen Lawfer of the Title 49 Committee recommended McKibben add more nuanced language when defining low-income, lower-income and homeless Juneauites.
“Lower-income housing might be appropriate,” Lawfer said. “The whole comprehensive plan is looking to address the lower-income housing. We need to define that. I don’t want everybody to think that there is low-income or homeless and everybody else.”
“Whenever we talk about affordable housing I say I have an poster from an affordable housing seminar from 1974,” Vice Clerk Nicole Grewe said. “It’s what we’re up against.”
“A lot of downtown housing has been preempted by other private uses,” Bennett said.
Commission members recommend the city update some of the information in the draft plan.
“This ambitious goal will require an infusion of development capital in infrastructure and a lot of focus on affordable housing and low-income housing, et cetera, could we add overall housing,” Vice Chairman Dennis Watson said.
Stipulations put on rental properties rules some families out. A U.S. Coast Guard presentation said the guard had 8 or 9 families living in hotels waiting for housing, Watson said. When you look at real availability in Juneau housing, it’s a tough one,” Watson said.
Commissioners called for easy-to-read tables and graphs to make information readily available.
There are 847 parcels, 119 of which are CBJ owned, which are vacant or underused in the Juneau urban area.
Lawfer said land prices might restrict development in Juneau, “When you are talking just the lot is $150,000 to $200,000.”
She said the city has disposed of property in the past and has property to sell now, but it might be cost prohibitive.
Chairman Michael Sartre said the commission is going to work on the plan over more than one commission meeting.
Grewe recommended the Juneau Economic Development Council respond to the draft plan.
The commission set aside the plan’s policies and implementing actions until the next meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for March 27 at 7 p.m. in the Assembly Chambers.
Comments (55)
Add commentaffordable housing
City subsidy is not the answer.
City assets belong to everyone.
Affordable housing needs to also consider the ongoing costs, sewer and water, hazardous waste disposal fees, taxes etc. Owning a home is NOT the answer for all people.
Look at what happened to people in the majority of the US when they bought homes thinking the price would always rise and then the market turned around.
Yikes!
Ahem - putting a bunch of cheap land into the market could devalue everyone elses investment in property. My family bought a $300,000 home, and that is really on the lower end of the spectrum for a single family home here in Juneau. I'm curious as to how bringing "affordable" housing to Juneau will affect those of us who have scraped together enough savings to be homeowners already?
Problems all around
Yes affordable housing is needed. No giving away city assets is not the answer. And in response to CG housing needs, maybe they should build some?
I'd think the last thing we
I'd think the last thing we would want is the feds building and owning housing units. let private developers do the building and owning of the homes. that way the money stays in the hands of the private sector.
Nice words but no real intention!
We are a family in our thirties with one child who can't afford to go from our townhouse to a single family home with a garage. Every year we read about affordable housing; it seems to be a great article but nothing ever comes of it. We will probably end up doing what a lot of smart, educated young families end up doing; snagging a job up north and with that enjoying the opportunity to purchase a home for a great price with land to boot! The Juneau housing market is going to stay this way and change is not coming! Sad but True!
@Audio27: no offense, but a
@Audio27: no offense, but a house is first and foremost a shelter and a home. I couldn't care less about "investment" properties, because people who can afford investment properties likely aren't the ones who NEED affordable housing.
We're talking a luxury versus a necessity here.
A $300,000 home in Juneau is
A $300,000 home in Juneau is by no means a "luxury".
Plan of Attack
What is our city planning on doing to solve the problem?
Restricting the type of building permits issued could direct investors into other types of investments-away from single family homes to other types of developments like condos, duplexes or townhouses. When the city sells its land it should focus on creating higher density housing because of the high price of land. The cost of a building lot prices most homes out of the $250,000 range. The high price of land should keep single family homes values close to the current value-especially if there are fewer single family homes built. When you look at the number of condos for sale there are very few. These homes are a great starting place for people purchasing their first home and to build equity. The city should aim for an even lower cost for affordable housing something closer to $150,000 to 200,000. At $150,000 someone can expect to pay around $872 a month or 1/3 of someone's take home income who makes $39,240 a year (20% income tax rate). For $200,000 $924 would be the monthly payment or 1/3 of someone's take home income that makes $41,580 (20% income tax rate). The above assumes a 4% interest rate and 1.25% property tax rate.
What would you rather build and sell?
Say you are a home builder. What would you rather build and sell? A home you can sell for $500,000 at a profit of $50,000 or $250,000 at a profit of $25,000?
Who buys those $500k homes? People who bought during the bust of 1986 and sold their properties at profits of $100k to $200k.
Ideal is not to have to make a monthly payment
to me, that is an advantage to owning your own home and land...no monthly fees to a mobile home park or a condo association. But, this is not an ideal world is it?
Building a TALL top notch
Building a TALL top notch apartment building with a 100 or so units, would provide more housing than cramming a bunch of low income homes in a small area.
PP, this isnt about luxury
PP, this isnt about luxury investment properties. If I buy a home for $300k and then the city unloads a bunch of property and floods the market with cheap homes, my value will drop to $200k. I now owe $100k more than I could sell it for. This is a bad deal. The city should stay out of the housing. Besides, the city never sells land to Joe Public. They offer to their best buddy land developer for pennies on the dollar.
@Persnicky
I didn't say that the purpose of my purchase was an investment. The purpose of my home is to house and protect my family, but it is also an investment on their future. Any real estate purchase is an investment if you do it properly. So read it again, I'm not a landlord, I am a homeowner concerned about the cash I sunk into that property. Your responses would seem more cogent if you read the original post fully, and not start it with "no offense." Most times, those posts are going to raise someones ire. I'm trying to have a practical discussion about the potential impact of a local government proposal. Thanks for listening and not being offended.
There are 8 3 bedroom homes
There are 8 3 bedroom homes for roughly $325k each. There are 8 2 bedroom homes for just shy of $300k.
There are no affordable homes in Juneau for a single family. And we're talking about regular income, not low income.
I will stay
I will stay in my comfy little mobile home next to the dump.
Ironic
That the picture to this story is where there used to residential zoned.
Sure they were dumps but could have been kept residential zoning for housing development.
But instead it's all government property now.
Its too bad some of our
Its too bad some of our existing downtown building owners haven't turned some of their vacant space into nice apartments or condos. I'd love to see Gross Alaska turn some of their old space into apartments. I think it would be ideal to have 3 o4 for buildings with 30 or more units located somewhere within walking distance of the SOB and downtown. Imagine the reduction in traffic in the morning/afternoon commutes if more of people were able to live close enough to walk to work.
There is plenty of land available..........
Juneau has plenty of land available for development. It is up to the city planners and zoning commissions to remove some of the barriers to home building and subsequent ownership. I like the idea from akbrdguru suggesting alternative uses for downtown properties. We have far too many buildings that are vacant most of the year to justify this affordable housing problem. Perhaps the city can move forward with the long standing idea of mandating year round commercial use of downtown properties by providing tax incentives for owners to convert to condo status or rent at an affordable rate. Lets get creative !! Use what we have efficiently.
Why not
Start looking at your home as "your home" instead of an investment that you expect to return a large profit after a few years? Just how is it that we live in the largest state in the union and in one of the largest boroughs in the country, yet, land is very expensive if it is even available?
Affordable?
I don't understand how anyone thinks $250,000 for a house is "affordable"...I'm a renter and theres no way in hell I could afford a $250,000 home, they've built "affordable" low income homes below thunder mtn on Kanata St I think it is,and they are like $300,000 homes.I guess maybe my idea of affordable is different than everybody else
@bob
Not really. There are no affordable homes in Juneau, AK. I mean, you have to pay an arm and a leg to buy a small plot of land, and buy a manufactured home, or trailer from out of state, shipped up here ... and it's still cheaper.
A generation or two ago
When someone bought property and built a home, it was generally with the expectation that he or she would own it until death and would then pass it on to descendants to use as a family home. Yes, they were looked on as investments but back then, this sort of thing was called investing in the future and little thought was given to its cash value because worth and value were separate things and value was not so important. Now days we are overly concerned that something may adversely affect the price (value) of our property and cannot separate that from the worth of our property.
If the city were to decide to sell land at far less that the current going price I would be glad to see it. I have no intention of selling mine and never did so I do not expect to ever realize a profit or a loss in monetary terms.
Why should it be the
Why should it be the taxpayers responsibility to sell land below cost? How about all the developers sitting on land waiting for better prices?
Sorry, but affordable homes are like lower gas prices, something politicians talk about but have very little power to make happen.
@barnardj1
Ok, how about break-even? What does CBJ have in it? Cost of surveying? It’s not like they had to buy any of it.
I seem to recall
I sweetheart deal where a golf course developer got title to a lot of CBJ property for what, a grand an acre? Hell we never even got a golf course out of the deal….
But he'll develop houses on
But he'll develop houses on that land and sell it to us for $500k... The problem is, we have to keep an eye on the value of our houses. Banks dont like it when you owe more than its worth. Some evil banks then require an immediate payment of the difference. Not a pretty thing...
Who is the market?
I am confused as to who these homes will be sold to. If you are currently renting a home here in Juneau chances are you can afford monthly mortgage payments. The rental on a house being roughly 1500-2000 a month plus utilities. You can find homes on the market now that would fit in that range. The clincher is you need to come up with a 10% down and have good credit. Interest rates now are amazing. So who is the market for these homes? Or are we really talking about smaller cheaper homes for those renting apartments or receiving housing assistance? Let's not build homes no one can buy or no one wants to buy. Define your target market first.
pp, bob and ah ha
PP - agree with kpawsuh on this one, sorry. Ah-ha, I just bought a $280k attached home, which will be my last before retirement for sure - and I would just like it to hold it's value, and not drop 100k because the city floods the market with 'cheap' homes.
Bob - start with a condo or a mobile home, and start NOW.
Interest rates are fantastic, and you will be surprised at how much equity you can build. I had to live in the condo for 13 years, but the 2 bed $80k condo allowed me to get into the house for almost the same payment, given the market increase, what I earned in equity, and favorable interest rates. Just make sure you are comfortable with the payment - the banks always want to loan you more than you should take.
Exactly SwimmerGirl!
AH HA wants us to separate intrinsic value from monetary value, but a house that's underwater on value because the market changes dramatically is a serious detriment to my family. Part of being a good father to my children is ensuring they are not saddled with debt when I pass on. A home that they are stuck in because they can't sell because of the balance on the loan would be a horrible burden. It's going on all over America now! Homes are dropping dramatically in value but folks still owe the money on the loan to the bank. It isn't much comfort to any family that they have a home to pass on to anyone when they are now stripped of options to move elsewhere because of the situation. I'm not talking about making a quick buck!
While I'm all for encouraging
While I'm all for encouraging some home building around here, why not try something like Portland, OR is doing with tax abatements? The city could offer lower property taxes on new OR refurbished homes in areas they'd like to see greater population density. That'd make a $300K home more like $250K in terms of monthly payments.