conarb
Registered User
As we all know the costs of code and regulation compliance has sent the costs of construction through the roof, Oakland has come up with a workaround to house the homeless by building tiny buildings at 120 square feet so codes don't apply:
That's Oakland full of minorities and druggies, but even Silicon Valley has $120,000 a year Google coders sleeping on the streets, Mayor Sam Liccardo said, “we need to take a hard look at reducing our fees and reducing our red tape.”
¹ https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2018/0...ff-shed-program-to-large-homeless-encampment/
² https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2018/04/27/construction-costs-could-hamper-bay-area-residential-towers/
East Bay Times said:The Northgate “Tuff Sheds,” which are each approximately 120 square feet, have more windows and are more rectangular to better arrange a place for two people, said Assistant City Administrator Joe DeVries, who is in charge of homeless outreach.
The encampment will have a community space, on-site social workers, a dog run, shipping containers for storage and possibly showers.¹
That's Oakland full of minorities and druggies, but even Silicon Valley has $120,000 a year Google coders sleeping on the streets, Mayor Sam Liccardo said, “we need to take a hard look at reducing our fees and reducing our red tape.”
East Bay Times said:Luxury apartment rents in San Jose now range from $3.25 to $3.75 a square foot, Hudacek estimated during his presentation to the council. However, he added, to justify new luxury apartment development based on current construction costs, rents would have to rise to $4.25 to $4.75 a square foot. That means renters would be forced to endure an eye-popping 25 percent increase in rents before most new residential towers could be built.
The mayor indicated that he might seek City Council approval to slash the fees that San Jose charges developers for their projects.
“I don’t know that City Hall can do that much to change market forces, but at the very least,” Liccardo said, “we need to take a hard look at reducing our fees and reducing our red tape.”
Sharply rising costs for construction and labor have added a fresh complication in the market, developers and experts told the City Council study session.
“Construction costs have increased dramatically, especially in the last 18 months,” Don Peterson, senior managing director Northern California for Mill Creek Residential Trust, said during a presentation to the council.
Developers and industry experts say commercial construction costs are rising primarily due to more expensive materials such as lumber and rising labor costs.
According to Hudacek, construction costs are rising about 1 percent to 1.5 percent each month — which is far above the general rate of inflation, as measured by the consumer price index. Construction expenditures represent 60 percent to 75 percent of the total cost of developing a high-density residential project, Hudacek estimated.²
¹ https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2018/0...ff-shed-program-to-large-homeless-encampment/
² https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2018/04/27/construction-costs-could-hamper-bay-area-residential-towers/