With each passing year, it has become increasingly difficult for low-income workers to purchase or rent homes at affordable prices close to their place of work in cities across the U.S. In 2019, the Census Bureau reported that over 25% of households in the United States were of low-income status says Maxwell Drever. COVID-19 has substantially increased this percentage.
Thankfully, experts such as Maxwell Drever have developed innovative and workable solutions to the crisis of affordability. With that said, here is what you should know about the affordable workforce housing sector, and why it is one of the most challenging in the real estate industry today.
The Affordable Workforce Housing Crisis – On the rise
People across the nation are facing the reality that their chance of finding high-quality affordable housing is quite small. March 17-29, 2021 census data illustrates another side of the problem. It reported that 28% of United States households were currently behind on their rent or mortgage.
Simply speaking, the lack of affordable workforce housing in the United States lowers the quality of life for millions of its citizens. And also the reason has a lot to do with low wages, inflationary pressures, and the extreme rise in home values and rental costs we as a nation have experienced over the past few years.
The Affordable Workforce Housing Crisis – How to fix the problem
To fix the problem, seven million affordable workforce housing units need to be built in the $500-$700 per month range. However, that said, support for programs that could begin to address this problem currently do not exist at the federal government level.
Maxwell Drever, chairman emeritus of Drever Atelier Partners offers an innovative solution. It begins with the sourcing of “broken” hotels with multiple amenities such as pools and meeting areas. Properties such as these can be repurposed and converted into luxurious Affordable Workforce Housing stock in that $500-$700 per month range. When complete, these complexes contain apartments that are modern, clean, and safe housing for people in need. Drever is focusing on the conceptual and physical transformation of hotel rooms into micro-unit studio apartments.
Drever Atelier Partners Affordable Workforce Housing conversions all offer modern amenities
The broken hotel to affordable workforce housing solution offered by Maxwell Driver provides the following:
- Affordable rents
- Wellness programs
- Child care facilities
- Meeting spaces
- Fitness centers
- Cultural programs
- And more.
The Drever team currently has three affordable workforce housing complex conversions in various stages of development. Each will have its own distinctive flair, but all will share the characteristics noted above. These developments have the potential to transform the communities. Where they will sit and also enhance the lives of those who will live in them. It is hoped that developments like these will become commonplace. Setting the stage for a vast increase in also the amount of available affordable workforce housing stock in every state in the nation.