Why is affordable housing so difficult to create in Arizona
Download mp3 (12.22 MB)A project that was slated to build more than 500 affordable apartment units in Chandler will now include fewer than 300 and will be targeted at senior citizens.
Axios Phoenix reported that earlier in November, the City Council voted unanimously to oppose the development, arguing it went against the city’s general plan for that land and raising concerns about water. Neighbors also complained about the potential for increased traffic in the area, as well as the possibility of more crime. The developer says the new plan aims to address those concerns.
Metro Phoenix — and state as a whole — are facing a significant shortage of housing — specifically affordable housing.
Last year, the Arizona Department of Housing estimated the state needed 270,000 units to meet demand. But projects that would provide housing, and affordable housing, often run into opposition.
Dierdre Pfeiffer joined The Show to explain how residents and developers can work through some of that. Pfeiffer is with the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University.
Interview highlights
Let's start with this project in Chandler. Is it something we see in other instances, where a developer comes in and says they have a proposal for affordable or workforce housing, neighbors say they don't like it, and then the developer sort of scales it back until it becomes at least somewhat acceptable?
DEIRDRE PFEIFFER: Yeah, I mean, so opposition to new housing coming in, it happens all the time in all sorts of places. This is a very common thing. This is a function of our American democracy, right? People have a say in the kinds of changes that are happening in their community. What I would say is in the, in this Chandler case, the fact that the developer is negotiating a lot — it sounds — is something that's a little novel about this case.
So I would say more often, what you would see happen is, you know, little negotiation happening or more superficial kinds of negotiation, the project moving forward. Or the project not moving forward at al.
Is that part of the reason why there is so little affordable housing and workforce housing in Arizona?
PFEIFFER: Absolutely, it's incredibly difficult to get this housing off the ground for several reasons. First of all, you know, it's extremely expensive to acquire property for housing in an area that's already largely built out, like the Phoenix region. Especially some of our interior cities and more suburban areas. And so acquiring property is really hard. And then after that property is acquired, getting the entitlements to build can be very difficult. And so these include things like looking at the zoning. And does the zoning allow you to do what you want to do with this development? If not, you might have to request some kind of change to the zoning. That can be a very long process and, and this is usually where the public engagement side gets triggered.
It's also very expensive to build the housing once you get the approval to build it. And so oftentimes developers need to cobble together all these different kinds of subsidies, loans in order to do that. And you know, then they're just, they're just betting against the clock, you know, hoping they're going to be able to get this off the ground and get some money coming in to pay back the loans, right? And so any kind of delay in the process such as from, you know, a community that's asking for a lot or is negotiating very hard ... it can be very difficult for the developer to actually get this housing built.
What you make of the fact then that in this Chandler case there was seemingly some negotiation and some willingness to a compromise where there was some housing built? Not everything that was originally proposed — but something as opposed to nothing.
PFEIFFER: Yeah, I think ... it is a positive outcome, even though, you know, we're probably not getting the developers and getting everything they needed. ... I'm not sure what their finances were but to pencil out in all the ways that they wanted. And certainly, you know, that community Chandler — but also our broader region — is not getting all the housing that we need to fill this gap. But all that said, it's a good thing when, when we're able to build housing that, you know? The community is able to live with and so that, you know, that is an outcome that we want to reach. We want to find the mutual benefits here, right?
But all that said, it's a good thing when, when we're able to build housing that, you know? The community is able to live with and so that, you know, that is an outcome that we want to reach, we want to find the mutual benefits here, right?
And through a process of negotiation, could this potentially, do you think maybe be a template for other projects that maybe get scaled back somewhat but still happen and help some people?
PFEIFFER: Absolutely. Yeah. I think, you know, the developer, the fact that they were able to reach some kind of compromise with the community, there's lessons to learn from that. And possibly other developers who are facing similar challenges could, you know, replicate some of those techniques. I mean, one of the the best practices that we know about that we've seen over and over being associated with more positive outcomes is early involvement of the community. So, after the site is acquired and the developers usually in the process of getting those entitlements ... they're bringing the community on board in those conversations about the planning, you know, for that site very early on.
