The Top 10 Affordable & Sublime Projects of Affordable Housing in Future
According to a U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development's last count in January 2020 there were 580,466 homeless people, of which 37,252 were veterans. Homeless shelters housed 1.4 million people at some point during 2018.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 1.35 million children were homeless at some point during the 2016-17 school years.
1. The AYA in Washington D.C
In Southwest Washington, AYA provides emergency housing for up to 50 families, primarily mothers with young children. The color-coded floors have between seven and ten suites each. Interconnecting adjoining suites can accommodate families of up to twelve people.
LEO A DALY and Studio Twenty Seven Architecture designed a $21 million facility for the District of Columbia Department of General Services. Blue Skye Construction, A. Morton Thomas, and Silman Associates have also contributed.
2. Four Ten Lofts in Baltimore
One building houses eight three-bedroom apartments, while the second building provides 68 one- and three-bedroom apartments for artists and the homeless. The complex locates in the Bromo Tower arts and entertainment district.
A two-story gallery, a sound studio for musicians, an art room, and a spray booth can find in the latter building. Besides providing bedding, towels, dishware, and small appliances, the United Way furnished the apartments. The building also achieves Energy Star certification.
3. Pullman Art-space Lofts in Chicago
Buildings in Pullman renovate into 18 one-bedroom lofts and 20 two-bedroom lofts by combining two abandoned 19th-century landmark apartment buildings. Pullman Car Company constructed the community around 1880. National monument status was given to it in 2015.
4. Fair Oak Commons in Redwood City in California
According to California's SB 35, this $42 million complex was the first in the county to receive full approval in one stop. John Stewart Company, a service agency on-site, offers case management, financial planning courses, and job readiness programs.
5. Path Metro Villas in Los Angeles in California
In Rampart Village in Los Angeles, this two-phase project provides 186 studio and one-bedroom apartments as well as supportive services for veterans, seniors, and the homeless. A zoning change from light industrial to residential was necessary for the developer, PATH Ventures.
6. Villas at the Ridgeway in New York
Three derelict public housing buildings were replaced with 70 two- to four-bedroom apartments constructed using modular buildings fabricated off-site that have an AMI of 30%, 50%, and 60%.
7. Frost Terrace in Boston
An affordable development with 40 studio and one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, designed by Bruner & Cott Architects, was created amid four restored single-family edifices. Section 8 vouchers are available for eight of the apartments.
8. Phoenix Estates 2 in New York
In this 85,000 square foot development mix of 100% affordable senior and family apartments, RKTB Architects took advantage of NYC's 2016 Zoning for Quality and Affordability rules to increase the FAR by 45%.
There are six to eight stories of senior housing in the complex. The 33 million dollars trans-generational enterprise also includes a 7,100-square-foot yard on the ground floor.
9. Lineage in Alexandria in Virginia
Housing Authority of the United States constructed 15 apartments for African-American war industry workers and their families in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1942. After being deemed beyond repair in 2018, the precast modernist units are no longer used as public housing.
In total, 52 units were built on the 0.71-acre site by leveraging the FAR requirements: 15 at 30% AMI, 11 at 50% AMI, and 26 at 60% AMI. The complex, which cost $12 million, has six accessible units. Lineage received a Gold certificate from Earth-Craft.
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In addition to participating in the Living Future Challenge pilot for affordable housing, this LEED Multifamily Midrise complex has been selected to demonstrate compliance with Washington State's Evergreen Sustainability Standard through the LEED Multifamily Midrise pilot. It generates 198,000 kWh annually from its 532 solar panels.
Source & Image Courtesy: bdcnetwork.com
Conclusion
It's a bleak picture. About 20.4% of all renter households spend more than 30% of their income on housing, according to Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies. Almost half of them spend more than 50%. Only 37 affordable housing units are available for every 100 extremely low-income households, according to a report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
It is possible for developers and nonprofit organizations to build affordable, aesthetically pleasing, and ecologically responsible housing despite the grim statistics.
