Boise officials detail the city’s affordable housing gap. Here’s what they say is needed
Amid a historic housing shortage in the Treasure Valley, Boise officials have released an analysis that takes a deep dive into the severity of the need for new housing and what’s being done about it.
Housing and Community Development Senior Manager Maureen Brewer addressed city councilors on Tuesday, explaining that the analysis found that many Boise residents don’t make enough money to afford market prices for local housing.
“Housing costs are outpacing livable wages,” Brewer said. “There’s a huge disconnect, and if the city wants to position itself well to influence what’s happening here, we need to focus our resources instead of stretching them thin.”
While rents and home prices have increased around the nation, prices in the Treasure Valley have surged to record levels over the past year, leaving some local residents struggling or unable to keep up.
Specifically, 67% of renters and 37% of homeowners can’t afford market-rate housing, the analysis said. That’s due in part to surging rent prices — which the study estimated increased 20% year-over-year — and an extremely low rental vacancy rate of 1.4%.
The strategy laid out for a city response was straightforward: Assemble financial resources to help the neediest and marginalized communities of renters.
The majority of rental units are needed by those making less than $40,000 per year, less than 60% of the area median income, the analysis found. Yet, the bulk of new housing is being constructed for those households making more than 80% of Boise’s area median income, about $54,000 a year for a three-person household.
“The market is by and large meeting the need for growth,” Brewer said, but she added: “The market is not correcting for the deficits we have.”
She said a continued housing shortage could lead to increased homelessness. Our Path Home Manager Casey Mattoon told councilors that the city program, which works to assist those facing homelessness, has hundreds of families in Boise on the waiting list for supportive housing.
The city announced its goal to construct 1,250 new affordable rental units within the next five years. While the number is subject to change, Brewer said it represents an achievable goal for the city to make a dent in the large need for new, affordable housing in Boise.
“Here’s an aspirational but also realistic goal the city can do,” Brewer told the Idaho Statesman.
That number, though, is still well short of the total number of units needed. The analysis concluded that more than 27,000 new units are needed by 2030, with 77% of those being affordable for those making less than 80% of the area median income of $67,000 for a three-person household.
Brewer highlighted a handful of projects aimed at getting the city closer to that goal. That includes the planned Franklin and Orchard and State and Arthur housing projects.
The city of Boise recently awarded a contract to an Idaho developer to build a five-story apartment complex on State and Arthur that will include 35 units for households earning less than the local median income and five for people experiencing chronic homelessness.
J. Fischer Cos., of Salt Lake City, won the bid for the Franklin and Orchard project, with plans to construct more than 200 units, most of which are planned to go to lower-income households.
However, while those projects are advancing, they may not be open to new tenants for at least three years. Brewer said she is exploring ways to quicken the process.
Council President Elaine Clegg said she agreed the city needs to find ways to get people into affordable units faster.
“Literally, we don’t have very much time,” Clegg said.
This story was originally published August 24, 2021 at 4:28 PM.
.jpg)