Comments on: Beam Development pitches affordable live-work /news/2010/04/21/beam-development-pitches-rentable-affordable-live-work/ Building and Construction News in Portland, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest Fri, 23 Apr 2010 10:06:29 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.6 By: uberVU - social comments /news/2010/04/21/beam-development-pitches-rentable-affordable-live-work/#comment-20371 Fri, 23 Apr 2010 10:06:29 +0000 /?p=52112#comment-20371 Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by parrlumber: Affordable PDX Creative Live/Work Space Coming Soon From Beam Development …

]]> By: Old Town /news/2010/04/21/beam-development-pitches-rentable-affordable-live-work/#comment-20281 Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:46:18 +0000 /?p=52112#comment-20281 Many questions about the project. It is not clear to me why “creatives” ought to be subsidized by anyone. And, if I read the article correctly – the project is self financed or at least no public funds are being used. So the argument might be that the owner should be able to rent to who he or she chooses. But how does one skirt the discrimination laws or get rid of ADA railings? Thus, despite the developer’s best intentions – lawsuits seem to be just waiting to be filed.

If this project, somewhat similar to an SRO, can be developed at apparently a very low rent – why can’t the city develop housing for the homeless at the same cost? Does the use of public financing add that much to the cost?

Given the present economic climate – the developer is showing some ingenuity. But it is doubtful that in a decent economy that any developer would strain to build such affordable housing. Point – if the economy rebounds – the rent/lease expense can be expected to increase considerably. No long term leases here.

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