Apartment Choice

Opponents have organized against an effort to rein in rent increases in Maine’s largest city. A group calling itself Say No To Rent Control announced its formal opposition Tuesday to Fair Rent Portland ‘s initiative to adopt a rent stabilization ordinance by referendum in November. The announcement sets the stage for a vigorous fall campaign , which comes as longtime residents and low- wage renters worry that a steep rise in rents and the influx of luxury housing is leading to gentrification and a growing affordability gap between incomes and housing costs. The new group is casting the referendum effort as a rent control ordinance that would harm the city’s housing market, although the supporters say the plan meets the definition of modern rent stabilization efforts that have been successful in other states. Among other things, Fair Rent Portland ’s initiative would limit rent increases to the rate of inflation for landlords who own five or more apartments and establish a Rent...

Among the filthy rich billionaires who gave money to the CAA, but lost in the battle against rent control in Richmond and Mountain View includes Berkshire Hathaway Home Services owned by Warren Buffet, Equity Residential owned by Sam Zell, and Prometheus Real Estate Group owned by Jackie Diller Salfier and the Diller family. California Apartment Association suspends legal challenges against Richmond rent control California Apartment Association suspends legal challenges against rent control in Richmond and Mountain View By Lynda Carson - May 6, 2017 On May 5, 2017, the The California Apartment Association (CAA), announced that it is suspending its legal challenges in court against the City of Richmond and Mountain View, and the renter protection ordinances known as Measure L and Measure V, that were passed into law by the voters last November. After a long hard fought struggle against greedy landlords involved in price gouging and eviction for profit schemes supported by ...

(Photo: NEWS CENTER) PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- In the midst of a struggle to get a rent control ordinance on the November ballot in Portland, a new group has emerged to tell voters why its a bad idea. "Say no to rent control" says locking down a rent price might sounds like a great idea, but it can have serious consequences. The group is composed of landlords, contractors and others who say the proposed initiative is reckless and extreme. They say housing policy is complicated, and should not be decided by referendum. ► Overall, Maine housing is considered 'unaffordable' The group Fair Rent Portland , which brought forth a rent stabilization initiative intended for the November ballot, says the initiative is modeled after West Hollywood, California and Takoma Park, Maryland. Those ordinances have been in place for 30 years. Fair Rent Portland says both cities were able to relieve the housing crisis while supporting long term development .   (Photo: NEWS C...

CHAPEL HILL A property management company has cut the rent at two apartment complexes to give public employees an affordable way to live in town. Chapel Hill - based Eller Capital Partners is reducing the rent for newly renovated apartments at Midtown 501 – formerly Foxcroft Apartments near Erwin Road and U.S. 15-501 – and 86 North – formerly Timberlyne Apartments near Weaver Dairy Road . The offer, which also waives application and administration fees, is available to thousands of employees who now commute from surrounding counties to work for the town of Chapel Hill , the town of Carrboro, UNC and UNC Health Care , and other state agencies. It could save them a few thousand dollars a year, said Daniel Eller, president and chief executive officer of Eller Residential, a division of Eller Capital Partners . The rent would be $645 a month for a one- bedroom apartment at 86 North – reduced from $795 – and $895 a month for two bedrooms – reduced from $1,095. That would be affordab...

When it comes to getting new apartments built, San Diego is the 11th worst city in the nation, said a national study released Monday . Fifty cities were ranked on specific factors, including local regulations and land available for development, that were determined to be critical to construction by trade groups such as the National Multifamily Housing Council and the National Apartment Association . Honolulu was ranked the most difficult market for building new apartments, and New Orleans was the easiest. Research gathered by Florida-based think tank Hoyt Advisory Services for the trade groups looked at the Wharton Residential Land Use Regulation Index, a survey of regulatory laws, and a method of mapping developable land created by Sumner La Croix of the University of Hawaii. It also used the U.S. Census and other data and market research. In California, San Francisco was deemed the hardest to get new supply built at No. 8. Los Angeles was No. 12, Riverside No. 13, Sacramento ...

By Beth Jacobi The recommendations of the Bend 2030 housing workgroup , recently offered to Bend City Council , may not ease the housing burden of many of the people who live and work in Bend. The recommendations are designed to increase housing for those making $40,000 to $90,000 a year. But according to the Oregon Housing Alliance , the current mean renter wage in Deschutes County is $11.86 an hour (about $24,000 a year). Many tourism industry workers , teachers, police officers, health care workers , social service workers , and families with children are suffering from our housing crisis. Bend leads the nation for rent increases. Bend’s average home sales price is over $400,000, and homelessness has gone up 31 percent since 2015 (Point in Time Count, 2017). The Bend 2030 housing workgroup has some great ideas, but the recommendations don’t ensure the development of affordable housing . City leaders must reserve valuable subsidies and incentives, ( property tax waiver , system ...

This article is the first in a series based on new research into the place of lower-income and disadvantaged households in a compact city. There’s been a lot of talk about apartment living of late. Whether it’s millennials who can’t afford to buy a house, downsizers making a lifestyle change, owner-occupiers struggling to get defective buildings fixed , or foreign investors buying into new development, there’s no shortage of opinions and interest. Except for one group: lower-income and vulnerable residents . In Greater Sydney, the latest census data show that almost one in five households (17%) living in apartments and townhouses have weekly household incomes of less than A$649. Among this group the largest sub-group (36%) live in private rental housing . That’s more than 72,000 households living on $649 or less per week in a housing market where average weekly rents for apartments are $550. Our research for Shelter NSW identifies multiple challenges such households face. Further...

Shaftesbury PLC Strategic addition to Soho ownership Shaftesbury PLC, the Real Estate Investment Trust which owns a 14½ acre portfolio in London's West End, announces that it has entered in to a contract with PMB Holdings Limited to acquire a long-leasehold interest in 90-104 Berwick Street, Soho, London W1 at a price of £38.5 million. Located at the southern end of Berwick Street, the property is currently being redeveloped to provide 12,500 sq. ft of retail, a 5,500 sq. ft. supermarket, a 2,000 sq. ft. restaurant and a 110 bedroom hotel. Both the hotel and supermarket have been pre-let. The redevelopment is expected to complete in late 2018, which will, subject to satisfying various contractual conditions, trigger the completion of the acquisition. Commenting on the transaction, Brian Bickell, Chief Executive of Shaftesbury, commented: 'We are pleased to have secured this strategic acquisition , which materially increases our ownership of Berwick Street frontages to 50%....

Climate Change, Development & Aid, Economy & Trade, Energy, Environment, Global Governance, Headlines, North America, Poverty & SDGs Enrique Gili* - IPS/IFEJ POWAY, California, Oct 26 2007 (IPS) - Mary Jane Jagodzinzki nervously anticipated the arrival of a busload of building professionals . As it turned out, she needn&#39t have been too concerned. Solara green housing project in Poway, California. Credit: Enrique Gili/IPS" src="http://www.ipsnews.net/Library/solara_final.jpg" alt=" Solara green housing project in Poway, California. Credit: Enrique Gili/IPS" width="200" height="150" /> Solara green housing project in Poway, California. Credit: Enrique Gili/IPS Forty or so camera-toting architects, project managers and contractors arrived en masse in the bedroom community of Poway, north of San Diego, part of a green building tour showcasing a pioneering apartment complex that's saving money and helping the pl...

The long retail spine of Sydney Road, Brunswick, just north of Melbourne's CBD, was once a prosperous trading outpost on the way to the goldfields. These days it's a bohemian mix of variety stores, op shops, halal butchers and Lebanese bakeries. Take a side street to the west, however, and a different picture emerges. Sandwiched between Sydney Road and the Upfield train line is an area undergoing rapid and widespread transformation. Light industry is fast being replaced by mid- rise apartment buildings , their inhabitants attracted by the short commute into town and cheaper prices than in the city's south-east. The quality of these units is, on the whole, depressingly bad; think poor ventilation and bedrooms that "borrow" natural light (a weasel word for being dark and windowless). The occasional jazzy façade tries feebly to make up for otherwise cheap construction amid a chorus of greys. At ground level, carpark roller doors alternate with mean pocket garden...