City Council approved plans Tuesday to demolish three downtown apartments and build new student-oriented housing in its place.
The three apartment buildings to be demolished are currently located on 415 W. Johnson St., 226 N. Broom St. and 424 W. Dayton St.
The project developers will be required to work to save many of the urban trees involved in the project and install crossing lights for pedestrians next to the development, according to a City Council statement. Along with attracting students, the project also hopes to attract young professionals and long-term residents, the statement said.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the old development had one of the only in-ground swimming pools in downtown Madison, which will also be included in the new project. Construction on the project will begin after the current tenants’ leases expire in the middle of August this year, he said.
The approval of the development project raised concerns about the lack of affordable housing in Madison.
The developer is required to work with the tenants of the current apartments to find a place to relocate to when their current homes are demolished, according to the statement. Many City Council members said this is not enough and more should be done to create more affordable housing.
Verveer said classifying the new development as affordable housing is an overstatement. He said the owner of the development was not even aware the new apartment was called affordable housing.
“Affordable housing clearly is an issue, and we need to acknowledge that tonight,” Verveer said. “What will be constructed cannot be considered affordable in our community.”
Ald. Larry Palm, District 15, said there is little economic incentive to reduce or lower rent to attract tenants.
When new apartment buildings were constructed in the past, he said, other apartments would lower their rent in order to better compete for tenants. He said this is no longer the case.
“We’re in a very difficult time for our rental house market,” Palm said.
Palm said under current laws, it is difficult for the city to require developers to provide affordable housing. He said the city needs to rethink how the council manages housing.
It is imperative the City Council adopts a measure to allow affordable housing to be a determinant for demolition and construction of housing, Palm said.
Mayor Paul Soglin reminded City Council it had attempted to create more affordable housing in the city a few years ago, with a policy called inclusionary zoning. He said this policy did not successfully create affordable housing; rather, it cost the city $6 million and “terrified” developers.
Soglin said cities, such as Chicago and Miami, have nearly solved the problem by giving density bonuses for affordable housing. He encouraged Madison to model their affordable housing policy after those cities.
Ald. Satya Rhodes-Conway, District 12, said there are a range of policy options available for the city to evaluate.
She cited other municipalities that create affordable housing by setting aside money from different funds specifically for affordable housing, waiving fees for developers who provide affordable housing and requiring building projects to be affordable in the long term.
“Affordable housing is absolutely something that should be discussed when we are discussing any type of residential housing,” Rhodes-Conway said. “Our failure to have this discussion is a very deep failure to our community.”
