The proportion of new-build completions coming via the build-to-rent sector has grown in the last year, now accounting for over 7% of all new homes reaching the market, according to the latest rental sector insight by rental platform, Rentd.
Analysis of the total new-build completions over the last year found that build-to-rent has become an increasing focus of the new-build sector. In fact, last year, 7,123 new rental homes came via the build-to-rent sector, a 25% uplift on the volume of build-to-rent completions seen in 2020. This growth is some 7% higher than the increase seen in total new-build completions during the same period.
As a result, build-to-rent completions accounted for 7.2% of all new-build homes delivered last year, up from 6.8% the previous year.
However, the sector’s impact has been far greater in London. The 21,000 new homes delivered in the capital in 2021 account for just 10% of the UK total. The 7,123 build-to-rent completions, on the other hand, account for just shy of half (48%) of the national total.
As a result, build-to-rent completions accounted for 34% of all new-build delivery across London in 2021, with this market share increasing from 29.2% the year before.
This growth has been more muted elsewhere around the UK, with build-to-rent market share increasing from 4.1% to 4.2% between 2020 and 2021.
Ahmed Gamal, founder and CEO of Rentd, commented: “The new-build sector has evolved to deliver more than just bricks and mortar, with the lifestyle offering provided by new-build developments becoming as pivotal to their appeal as the property itself.
“So it’s hardly surprising that this focus on better quality living to suit the modern resident has transferred so well to the rental sector and, in fact, it’s more surprising that it’s taken so long to happen.
“Despite its relative infancy, the build-to-rent sector has grown rapidly and there’s no doubt it will continue to do so over the coming years, as it becomes a greater area of focus for the nation’s housebuilders.
“Of course, we remain a nation of aspirational homebuyers and so while more of us are choosing to rent until later in life, we’re unlikely to see build-to-rent eradicate this appetite to own our own homes entirely. But the sector does provide a fantastic alternative for the smaller proportion of the population who prefer the flexibility and easier freedom of movement that renting can provide.”
Over the time that Citrus County Habitat for Humanity has been in existence here in our county it has assisted more than 200 families. It has done so by providing decent and affordable housing to people who have a need, ability to pay and a willingness to partner with Habitat.
Recently, the newest project in Citrus Springs witnessed the “Blessing of Walls” of two new Habitat homes currently under construction. What a day of celebration it was for the new homeowners, as well as all the partners who work with Habitat to make these dreams of home ownership become a reality.
These are the first two homes of a 100-home development that is taking shape in Citrus Springs. This development has been in the making for over three years. Many people and organizations have given of their time, money and effort to make it a reality.
By the generosity of the community and the sale of surplus land owned by Habitat, it purchased the Citrus Springs property. During this year’s Legislative Session, the Florida State Legislature allocated and the governor approved $2.5 million, which has been used to underwrite the costs of infrastructure: roads, sewer, water, and storm drainage. This entire project carries no debt. Kudos to Habitat for this accomplishment.
This is a special time for the proud owners of the new homes. They have been working diligently to follow the guidelines and requirements, which make them eligible for the program. Even before being approved to be a Habitat Partner, people must go through initial informational sessions that explain all of the effort and involvement that will be required.
Some do not even make it through the introductory session when it is explained all of the hard work will be required to own a home through this program. The work includes working at the construction site of their home, the Habitat ReStore and other duties. One can only imagine the excitement when the new owners move into the home that they have worked long hours to construct. How much joy they realize when all of their sweat equity results in a place – their own place – that they own.
With the dramatic increase in the price of housing and the ever-rising mortgage interest rates in the country and in our county, it is truly a blessing to know that Habitat is providing our work force citizens with an opportunity to be homeowners.
We are proud of the Habitat leadership for its hard work and planning in providing this opportunity to people who might not necessarily be able to be homeowners without this program. Much appreciation should be extended to the community members who have supported this program through the years, both financially and in so many other ways. And, of course, the Florida Legislature is to be commended and thanked for the money they have provided which has underwritten the project’s infrastructure.
What a victory and a blessing for the new home owners. Celebrations are in order. And what a victory for our community to see affordable housing available for people who are diligent and willing to work hard to provide a home for themselves and their families.
Scottsdale-based Rosewood Homes announced the start of pre-sales and model home construction at its new 19-home Rosewood Canyon in the Storyrock Master Planned Community in north Scottsdale.
Rosewood’s new gated neighborhood offers tranquility and open space located east of Troon Mountain and adjacent to the 30,000-acre McDowell Sonoran Preserve while providing sweeping 360-degree views of some of Arizona’s most iconic mountains including the McDowell Mountains, Four Peaks, Troon Mountain and the Tom’s Thumb Trailhead.
Rosewood’s sensitively designed neighborhood offers custom quality, single-story residences ranging from 3,650 to 4,250 square feet plus oversized garages and large 2/3 to 3/4 acre lots with each backing to generous open space offering privacy and convenient access to miles of hiking and walking trails, the press release stated.
Rosewood Canyon provides homebuyers with a range of interior design choices to suit a variety of styles from contemporary to traditional along with generous standard features and a choice of authentic exterior architectural styling including desert contemporary, ranch hacienda, Spanish and Spanish revival.
Courtesy Rob Madden
Custom quality construction materials include 12-foot ceilings with large Anderson picture windows, custom iron and glass front doors, 8-foot tall solid core interior doors with Baldwin door hardware, custom cabinetry including dove-tailed drawers along with self-closing doors and drawers, quartz or granite countertops, and Wolf, Asko and Sub-Zero appliances.
“Our Rosewood Canyon and Rosewood Highlands neighborhoods at Storyrock offer the most gorgeous homes and locations that I’ve had the privilege of building in my 36-year homebuilding career” David Kitnick, president and founder of Rosewood Homes, stated in the press release.
Appointments to secure pre-sale pricing and first choice of lots are now available by contacting Shannon Lewis at slewis@rosewoodhomes.com, or by calling 480-970-1900.
Kitnick and his team at Rosewood Homes are 5-time recipients of the prestigious Eliant Homebuyers Choice Award voted by homeowners for providing the “Best Overall Purchase & Ownership Experience” in America.
Rosewood Homes is also a multi-year recipient of Arizona’s “Small Volume Builder of the Year” award bestowed by the Homebuilders Association of Central Arizona.
Additional information can be obtained at www.rosewoodhomes.com
(Photo by Chris DELMAS / AFP) (Photo by CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images)
The U.S. is in the midst of a housing supply crisis, with rents skyrocketing and the number of first-time homebuyers who can qualify for a mortgage on even a starter home shrinking. Who is to blame for this mess? The Democrats who run the US House Financial Services Committee have identified a convenient villain: corporate investors.
The committee held a hearing today, and the name of the session is the giveaway: “Where Have All the Houses Gone? Private Equity, Single Family Rentals, and America’s Neighborhoods.” Indeed, corporate investors have purchased hundreds of thousands of single-family homes across the country over the last decade, making it harder for Millennials, Gen Z and other first time buyers to break into the market.
But, some experts, including a key one at the hearing, argue that the problems with the housing market run much deeper; they pin the housing shortage and rising rents on the lack of new home building since the Great Recession.
“The growth of institutional investors is a symptom, rather than the cause, of extremely tight housing markets,” Jenny Schuetz, a senior fellow at Brookings Metro said in her statement to the committee. “Institutional investors benefit from tight housing supply, but they did not create the problem.” (Brookings Metro is an initiative of the Brookings Institution focused on the future of the middle class.)
The problem began with the housing bust and the Great Recession, according to Schuetz and other experts. The U.S. built fewer homes in the 2010s than in any decade since the 1960s. Foreclosures left many homes empty and deteriorating. But the decimated home building industry never ramped new residential construction back up to meet the needs of future homebuyers. Those builders who did survive the Great Recession faced growing zoning and cost challenges.
“Exclusionary zoning rules make it difficult to build in places where there’s a lot of demand for new homes, like big urban areas,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said in an interview. Zandi added that many growing suburban areas have restrictions on building multi-family housing and that higher permit costs have made it more expensive to start new residential construction.
Meanwhile, as the economy grew over the last decade–and aging Millennials married and started families–the number of would-be first time homebuyers grew. The combination of a lack of new entry-level homes and more buyers drove up home prices and rents.
“The surge in housing values, house prices, and rents has supercharged the institutional investor demand for homes,” Zandi observed.
While the private equity industry didn’t cause the housing crunch, Zandi and others agree that institutional investors have exacerbated the problem, especially for minorities, lower-income families, and first-time homebuyers.
Institutional investors first entered the single family rental market after the Great Recession when they started buying up foreclosed homes. Their interest spiked during the Covid housing boom–the pandemic led to lower interest rates, trillions of dollars in stimulus, a rise in demand for single-family homes, and supply chain disruptions which made construction more expensive. All those forces pushed up house prices.
“Institutional landlords have seized the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to expand their reach even further into our homes,” Sofia Lopez, a deputy campaign director at the Action Center on Race and the Economy, said in her statement. “Private equity’s business model hinges on boosting revenue, cutting costs, and maximizing efficiencies…This is a recipe for disaster: in housing, it translates into exorbitant rent increases.”
Corporate investors made 28 percent of all single-family home purchases nationwide in the first quarter of 2022, up from 19 percent in the first quarter of last year, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. The problem is particularly acute in booming Sun Belt markets, where investors have raised rents by up to 39 percent over the last year, according to CNBC.
Many of these corporate investors are backed by massive private equity firms. Invitation Homes, which owns a nation-leading 82,000 single-family homes, is backed by the Blackstone Group
BX
Families looking to enter the market have struggled to compete. “Deep pockets and ready access to capital markets allow them [institutional investors] to outbid individuals,” Schuetz said. This has been true for years, even before mortgage rates started rising, with average 30-year fixed rates now around 6 percent, the highest since 2008.
A variety of policy solutions have been put forward by the Biden Administration and others, including increased investments in public housing, tax incentives for institutional investors to sell properties to families, relaxed zoning laws, and tax breaks for home builders.
A May housing proposal by the Biden Administration states its goal is to “Work with the private sector to address supply chain challenges and improve building techniques to finish construction in 2022 on the most new homes in any year since 2006.” Among other things, the proposal aims to leverage funding from last year’s infrastructure bill by assigning Department of Transportation funding to affordable housing.
But those are just fixes around the edges. “We’re going to see institutional Investors grab a larger share of the housing stock. I don’t see that changing anytime soon,” Zandi says. “The only fundamental solution goes back to the fundamental cause: We need more [housing] supply.” That, of course, would help damp down rising prices and make housing less attractive to private investors.
For now, however, the trend is in the wrong direction. Residential construction decreased last month, likely due to rising mortgage rates, and some experts believe that number will remain low for much of the year.
Here’s what’s coming up on Texas Standard for Tuesday, June 28, 2022. Listen on your Texas public radio station, or ask your smart speaker to play Texas Standard. Check back later today for updated story links and audio.
46 people found dead in hot tractor-trailer in San Antonio
The bodies of at least 46 people – all believed to be migrants – were found dead in a tractor-trailer Monday in San Antonio. Officials said the truck had no air conditioning and was abandoned on the outskirts of the city in triple-degree temperatures. Sixteen survivors, including children, were taken to area hospitals suffering from heat exhaustion; Federal Homeland Security agents are in charge of the investigation. Texas Public Radio’s Joey Palacios, who was on the scene in San Antonio on Monday, joins us for more.
Texas governor race tightens as conservatives back Roe v. Wade reversal
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is reverberating in Texas’ marquee race in November’s midterm election. The decision is surely one that will rally Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s conservative base. But as recent polling indicates, the Texas governor’s race is tightening – could this landmark ruling, as well as the state’s other moves to restrict abortion, backfire on current state leaders? Edward McKinley, a state government reporter in the Houston Chronicle’s Austin bureau, shares more.
Mesquite’s proposed city code could price out new homebuyers
In Mesquite, just east of Dallas, the City Council is considering a significant change to its city code: requiring all new homes built in the city to be at least 2,000 square feet. Francesca D’Annunnzio, a freelance reporter who covers the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs, tells us more about how the proposed change could price out people out of the city.
Supreme Court’s abortion decision on minds at RGV Pride celebration
As June comes to a close, Pride Month celebrations continue across the state. On South Padre Island, the Rio Grande Valley’s LGTBQ community celebrated over the weekend. Texas Public Radio’s Gaige Davila reports the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was on everyone’s minds, but that didn’t deter them from appreciating each other.
Protecting online privacy post-Roe
From period trackers to Google searches, there’s increasing worry among abortion-rights advocates about how digital footprints can be used to build a case against those seeking abortions in states where it’s outlawed. Indeed, the implications for both medical and online privacy are far-reaching, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit focusing on digital rights. Corynne McSherry, legal director for the foundation, tells us how privacy is impacted post-Roe.
24/7 livestream seeks to define Texas music
What is Texas music? There’s probably no other state with such a rich diversity of musical stars, styles and nascent talent as the Lone Star State. A first-of-its-kind, 24/7 livestream dedicated to music that’s made here and played here touches on nearly every genre imaginable, yet firmly rooted in Texas terra firma. Matt Reilly, program director for KUTX 98.9 and creator of the Texas Music Experience, shares more.
The future of truancy reform in Texas public schools
Many discussions following last month’s mass shooting in Uvalde have surrounded mental health and behavioral reforms in public schools — based on the knowledge that the shooter had a history of absenteeism in his middle and high school career. In 2015, Texas decriminalized truancy in public schools, but now truancy reform advocates worry the state could roll back those policies. Talia Richman, who has been reporting on this for the Dallas Morning News’ Education Lab, joins us.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Michael Marks with the Talk of Texas.
San Francisco could get rid of single-family zoning Tuesday and instead allow fourplexes in every neighborhood and six-unit homes on all corner lots, a change long sought by housing development advocates.
But champions of greater housing density are worried that San Francisco’s legislation might result in very few new homes being built. They fear that restrictive provisions limiting who can take advantage of the new permissions and how fast property owners can get their projects approved will stymie new construction.
The proposal up for a long-awaited vote at the Board of Supervisors is intended to alleviate the city’s notorious housing crunch, and the vote marks the culmination of more than a year’s work by Supervisor Rafael Mandelman to pass legislation that would promote fourplexes in San Francisco. In early 2021, Mandelman announced a more modest plan that failed to advance. He returned last summer with a new proposal that is now poised to become city law.
But San Francisco’s law would circumvent the fast-tracked permit approval process required by a new state law — SB9 — that was passed to promote the construction of more multi-unit housing.
With the ordinance, Mandelman and co-sponsor Supervisor Myrna Melgar are trying to encourage more density while preserving local control over new development. Mandelman has acknowledged that his legislation leaves more work to be done to address the housing crisis.
“We’re going to have to make much bigger moves than this to address our housing shortage, but this is a meaningful step,” he said when he introduced the ordinance last summer.
Richard Hillis, the city’s planning director, said the impact of the fourplex ordinance will likely be “fairly small” as measured by new housing units. But he called the act of ending single-family zoning “a pretty big step” — at least in terms of the idea behind the policy change.
“They recognize, given our affordability crisis, building multi-family units instead of single-family homes is a good policy idea,” Hillis said of supervisors. “I’m just nervous that the changes they’re making are either not going far enough, or they’re putting requirements in place that will result in too few units being produced.”
Currently, about 40% of San Francisco’s land area is zoned only for single-family homes. The ordinance rezones all those areas to allow duplexes by default. Property owners can then receive a density exception from the city that allows them to build up to four units, or six on corner lots.
Anyone building more than two units would have those extra units subject to rent control — a program that some developers say can make the economics of building more homes harder to pencil out.
And only those who have owned their properties for at least five years — or inherited it from a family member who did — can qualify for the density exception at all.
The latter provision, implemented in committee at the urging of Supervisor Dean Preston, could hamstring the ordinance’s ability to translate into much new development, some observers say.
Preston pushed the restriction in order to prevent rampant real estate speculation — he wanted to discourage developers and wealthy people from using the law as an excuse to buy up more homes and flip them for large profits. But critics say the ownership restriction could simply push more developers toward building more expensive duplexes and single-family homes rather than more affordable fourplexes.
“That doesn’t make sense to us in terms of what we think the public policy objective should be, which is … to encourage more small units and more rent controlled units,” said Tom Radulovich, the executive director of Livable City.
Todd David, executive director of the Housing Action Coalition, said he thought the original version of the bill wouldn’t have much of an impact, but the amendments — including the ownership restriction — made that even more true.
“They took the original policy they knew would create little housing and they added some additional bells and whistles to ensure that it will create very little to no housing,” David said.
Additionally, the ordinance would allow San Francisco to get around a key provision of SB9.
The 2021 law lets homeowners who want to add extra units get approval through a streamlined process that bypasses city officials’ ability to use their discretion to reject housing developments. But the law only applies to areas zoned for single-family homes, so San Francisco’s rezoning of the whole city would make SB9 no longer apply to the permit approval process.
Mandelman previously told The Chronicle that he thought “there’s certainly a worthwhile conversation to be had about streamlining our approval processes.” But he said that fast-tracking approvals for fourplexes and sixplexes was “probably more than we can do in one bite.”
Hillis said that streamlining approval for fourplexes and sixplexes once the city is rezoned would likely require a ballot measure to amend the City Charter. San Franciscans are already voting on at least one amendment — and possibly two — in November aimed at accelerating housing production for some projects.
J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris
Housing Today has this morning launched a campaign to increase housebuilding to 300,000 homes year and beyond.
The campaign, called A Fair Deal for Housing, calls on the government to re-commit to its manifesto pledge of building 300,000 homes a year by the middle of the decade. This follows ministers appearing to back away from promising to meet the pledge and the government scrapping some of its proposed radical planning measures to boost delivery.
Housing Today will over the next few months look at current barriers to increasing delivery and work with the industry to develop a detailed package of solutions and asks for the government.
The campaign kicks off by listing several key issues currently blocking development and discusses potential solutions. During the campaign, we will be looking at the funding of planning, uncertainty over planning reform, the difficult funding environment for housing associations and the lack of SME housebuilders in the market. We will look at the fairness of regulation in the housebuilding industry and at the way fire safety remediation costs are being apportioned within the construction sector.
Over the coming weeks want to hear from the housing sector about any other barriers to development and potential solutions. We will work to deliver a series of concrete asks to put to ministers, along with an offer from the industry, later in the year. We know that given the right support, the housing industry will help the government its objectives to “build beautiful”, improve quality and safety, boost home ownership, embed energy efficiency and level up the UK.
The campaign is backed by the Home Builders Federation, the G15 group of housing associations in London, the National Federation of Builders (including the Home Builders Federation) the British Property Federation , Federation of Master Builders and the Land Promoters and Developers Federation,.
Geeta Nanda, chair of the G15 and chief executive of Metropolitan Thames Valley, said: “G15 members build around three-quarters of all affordable homes in London each year, and 15% of all those built across the country.
”This campaign rightly identifies practical steps the government can take to support us to build the homes it has long agreed the country needs.”
Geeta Nanda, chair of the G15
“We want to work with government to make sure that we can boost the delivery of new homes further, while we also make important investments in our existing homes to improve standards.
“With challenges around building safety costs falling to not-for-profit providers, as well the costs of achieving net zero, and rising construction costs, this campaign rightly identifies practical steps the government can take to support us to build the homes it has long agreed the country needs.”
Stewart Baseley, chief executive of the Home Builders Federation, said: “We have been underdelivering on homes in this country for decades. Recent years have seen supply double, but we are still well short of delivering the number of homes we need.
“As we look to increase supply further, we are facing a growing list of challenges. The regulatory burden continues to increase and threaten site viability, while the planning process remains frustratingly slow and unresponsive. Housebuilders now face a difficult operating environment.
“Building more homes, as called for by Housing Today’s A Fair Deal for Housing campaign, is essential and will provide significant social and economic benefits for every area of the country”
Stewart Baseley, executive chair, HBF
“We need government to work with industry to create a policy regime that is pro-business and pro-development and allows the industry to grow and deliver. Building more homes, as called for by Housing Today’s A Fair Deal for Housing campaign, is essential and will provide significant social and economic benefits for every area of the country.”
A Fair Deal for Housing campaign
Housing Today believes the government should not back away from its manifesto pledge of building 300,000 new homes a year by the middle of the decade. We badly need more homes and a lack of supply is a major factor in creating problems of affordability for both buyers and renters.
Over the next few months, Housing Today will be exploring potential solutions to help us ramp up housebuilding to 300,000. These are likely to, include different ways of working, funding asks of government and policy ideas that could boost housebuilding.
We want to hear from you: what do you think can make a difference at a policy level?
What can the industry do better?
We believe that, with the right commitments from ministers and the industry, it is possible to build more homes and help the government to meet its objectives to “build beautiful”, improve quality and safety, boost home ownership and level up the UK.
Click here to find out more about the campaign
Our backers:
The Virginia Beach City Council announced Monday that Sue Cunningham will be the new city real estate assessor.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.- (WAVY) – The Virginia Beach City Council announced Monday that Sue Cunningham will be the new city real estate assessor.
Cunningham’s duties include appraising and identifying all real property within the city at fair market value and overseeing a staff of appraisers and administrative support personnel.
Cunningham will be succeeding the current long-time assessor Ron Agner who will be retiring on July 1 after 16 years of service.
Cunningham has a long history as a licensed appraiser beginning her professional career in real estate in the Northern Virginia/Maryland area in 1992.
She moved to Virginia Beach in 2002 where she began working as an assessor for the City of Hampton. She started as an appraiser and then worked as the manager of real estate assessments from 2003 – 2005.
In 2005, Cunningham left the City of Hampton to begin her career at the City of Virginia Beach Real Estate Assessor’s Office.
At the Assessor’s Office, Cunningham advanced through the ranks as an appraiser and an appraisal supervisor.
She has served as assistant real estate assessor since 2018 and currently serves as treasurer of the Virginia Association of Assessing Officers. She is also very active in several other professional organizations.
Cunningham holds a bachelor’s degree in animal husbandry which she earned from the University of Maryland.
In addition to her education and professional experience, she holds a certified residential appraiser license with the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Cunningham is also a long-time member of the International Association of Assessing Officers.
In a statement by current Mayor Robert M. “Bobby” Dyer, “Having a skilled real estate assessor ensures that properties are correctly assessed in a fair and equitable manner.”
Dyer also said, “We are pleased to have this level of skill and professionalism with Sue and look forward to her assuming this new role in our community.”
Cunningham’s appointment is effective July 1.
A new housing development has been proposed for the former site of a church which burnt down five years ago.
Gateshead property developer, Fordinghall ltd, and the South Shields based Artisan Architecture have applied to construct 12 two-storey homes on the former site of the Trinity United Reform Church in Whitley Bay.
At the time of writing, no objections have been attached to the application.
Read More: Whitley Bay church destroyed by fire set to be demolished ‘in next couple of months’
Whitley Bay councillor John O’shea said: “For several years I have been very concerned about the dereliction of the former church and the unsightly nature of the site. I am really really pleased someone has come forward with a planning application to develop the site. Clearly housing would benefit local people and certainly benefit local businesses.
“It will eliminate unsightly dereliction in the centre of Whitley Bay and I am supporting the application. I have written to the planning officer indicating my support for the development”.
Back in 2019, construction firm La Brisa Limited applied to demolish the church to construct 22 two-bedroom and six one-bedroom apartments with parking and landscaping. However, the application was later withdrawn in 2020 after the firm and the local authority could not reach an agreement regarding Section 106 payments.
The church caught fire in 2017 but it was not until 2021 that the building was eventually demolished and the site cleared. In the meantime, the derelict building became an eyesore and was a serious concern for neighbours.
In the intervening years, the church was a source of vandalism adding to pressure for something to be done to the site. Even after the fire-damaged church was demolished, the vacant plot became a hotspot for fly tipping.
Residents had also raised concerns about how the derelict church was affecting house prices in the area.
The church was originally opened to the public on November 25 1900. Its congregation peaked in the 1930s with approximately 900 members.
Read More:
RHODE ISLAND, June 27 – EAST GREENWICH, RI – Governor Dan McKee and U.S. Senator Jack Reed joined RIHousing, Dakota Partners, Inc., funding and community partners for a ceremonial ribbon-cutting to celebrate the creation of new affordable rental homes at Brookside Terrace in East Greenwich.
Developed in two phases by Dakota Partners, Inc., Brookside Terrace is a new construction development that includes 96 units of affordable apartments in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Brookside Terrace Phase I was completed in January of 2022 and is currently occupied; Phase II is nearing completion.
“Under my Administration, housing has been and will remain a top priority,” said Governor McKee. “Safe, affordable housing for Rhode Islanders is critical to ensuring our state thrives. That’s why I’m so proud that our budget includes a quarter billion dollar, historic investment for housing at all levels. That funding will help us do more projects like this one in East Greenwich – I thank all the partners who came together to make this happen today.”
“East Greenwich is a wonderful place to live and this new development will add high-quality apartments that offer modern comfort and convenience to residents at an affordable price,” said Senator Reed. “This is a smart investment in community development that will help create more opportunities for working families and help East Greenwich meet its housing affordability goals.”
Brookside Terrace’s 96 units are spread throughout four, 3-story garden-style residential buildings. A single-story clubhouse and playground are also located on the property, which is set back from South County Trail. Each Phase consisted of the construction of two of the residential buildings and 48 units. In total, Phase I and II include 12 units affordable to tenants at 30 percent area median income (AMI) ($29,000 annual income for a 4-person household). The remaining units are restricted to residents with incomes at or below 60 percent AMI (or $58,020 annual income for a 4-person household).
“The need and demand for affordable family housing is strong in East Greenwich, and initiatives like Brookside Terrace are integral to solving our state’s affordable housing crisis and providing well-paying jobs while creating vibrant communities with good homes,” said Carol Ventura, Executive Director of RIHousing. “Brookside Terrace provides much needed affordable housing in a highly desirable community with only limited affordable housing options. Whether living in an urban, suburban or rural setting, Rhode Islanders need rental options that they can afford, and in communities where they want to live.”
Dakota Partners, Inc, a developer with a history of developing affordable homes in New England, built Brookside Terrace to Passive House standards, which utilizes super insulation, airtight building envelope and heat-recovery ventilation systems to reduce overall energy consumption. Dakota began implementing these principles into their developments in 2017 and is now one of the nation’s most active Passive House developers of affordable housing with close to a dozen projects currently under construction or in development.
“Brookside Terrace – which is PHIUS+ Core certified – fills a critical void of affordable housing in East Greenwich and provides safe and comfortable homes to individuals and families who might otherwise be priced out of the area,” said Dakota Partners principal, Roberto Arista. “Dakota is proud to work with Rhode Island Housing to create much-needed affordable housing in Rhode Island that delivers on our mission to create housing that matters to residents, the community, and the environment.”
This affordable housing development is an important addition to East Greenwich as prior to development less than 5 percent of the town’s housing was considered “affordable” and only 29 percent of its housing stock was multi-family. These factors pose significant challenges to families seeking affordable homes. The Brookside Terrace property was specifically targeted to expand availability of affordable housing in the area. The 17-acre site is located along South County Trail and provides residents with access to retail, schools, government, employment, and recreation areas.
“Ensuring East Greenwich residents have access to safe, healthy and affordable housing options is important to our community and its residents,” said Andrew Nota, East Greenwich Town Manager. “These new rental options help local families reside in a community that offers access to great schools, recreational areas, jobs, retail and services. We are excited to celebrate these new homes and the families residing here.”
The creation of new rental homes at Brookside Terrace supported more than 172 jobs, the majority of which were in the construction trades. Funding for Brookside Terrace came from a variety of funding sources, including a mortgage from RIHousing, $23.9 million in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) equity, almost $1.5 million from the federal Housing Trust Fund program, $749,369 in HOME Program funding, and $250,000 from the Zero Energy for the Ocean State (ZEOS) program.
“Bank of America Community Development Banking is pleased to provide $23 million to help finance the construction of much-needed affordable housing for families in Rhode Island,” said Kevin Tracy, President, Bank of America Rhode Island. “Brookside Terrace is a great example of the impact we can make to help the most vulnerable in the state of Rhode Island and demonstrates our continued commitment to support the communities where we live and work.”
###