The Rose Green Cities Fund has purchased an affordable housing complex in a gentrifying area of D.C., not to capitalize on rising prices but to protect affordable ones. Unlikely, you say? The Fund's mission is to preserve affordable housing.
"Jonathan Rose, president and founder of the Rose company, said that because of the escalating costs of housing in the Washington area, he made it one of four markets in which to focus his efforts on building and preserving affordable housing," writes Jonathan O'Connell. "The others are Chicago, Newark and Connecticut’s Fairfield County."
The Rose Green Cities Fund's first venture in the D.C. market is the 223-unit Channel Square Apartments, near where luxury apartment buildings are rising in the burgeoning Southwest quadrant of the city. They've planned a number of energy and environmental upgrades for the complex.
"In the long term, Rose said, 51 percent or more of the units would be set aside for families making below the area median income, although he said the exact formula has not been decided upon. 'There are already a number of families and lower-income households there. Our number one goal is to keep all of those families in the building,' Rose said."
"Can the developers make money if they renovate the building and keep most of the tenants in place?" asks O'Connell. "Rose said that the mission-oriented Green Cities Fund aims for a 8 to 12 percent return over a six-year period, a lower return than what many for-profit developers expect."
FULL STORY: Developers purchase Channel Square Apartments in SW, plan ’green’ renovations

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands
For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”

Restaurant Patios Were a Pandemic Win — Why Were They so Hard to Keep?
Social distancing requirements and changes in travel patterns prompted cities to pilot new uses for street and sidewalk space. Then it got complicated.

Platform Pilsner: Vancouver Transit Agency Releases... a Beer?
TransLink will receive a portion of every sale of the four-pack.

Toronto Weighs Cheaper Transit, Parking Hikes for Major Events
Special event rates would take effect during large festivals, sports games and concerts to ‘discourage driving, manage congestion and free up space for transit.”

Berlin to Consider Car-Free Zone Larger Than Manhattan
The area bound by the 22-mile Ringbahn would still allow 12 uses of a private automobile per year per person, and several other exemptions.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)