Santa Barbara to offer half-million dollar 'affordable' housing
Mon Aug 14, 4:44 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The seaside southern California city of Santa Barbara plans to subsidize the building of "affordable" urban condominiums that will cost half a million dollars, officials said.
The project would allow families earning up to 160,000 dollars annually to buy into a 48-unit building to be built a short walk from the Pacific Ocean.
"This is truly not our normal involvement," Santa Barbara Housing Authority Executive Director, Robert Pearson told AFP. "With over 3,000 units in the City of Santa Barbara, most of our work is with the poor."
But Pearson says that non-profit organizations in Santa Barbara have difficulty recruiting workers because of the lack of middle-income affordable housing.
"They're priced right out of the market here," said Pearson.
The average home in Santa Barbara is currently selling for 1.2 million dollars. The new development, on the last two acres of vacant land in the city, will have 48 units offered between 495,000 and 595,000 dollars.
"You can't find any dirt in this town for that kind price," said Pearson.
Mon Aug 14, 4:44 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The seaside southern California city of Santa Barbara plans to subsidize the building of "affordable" urban condominiums that will cost half a million dollars, officials said.
The project would allow families earning up to 160,000 dollars annually to buy into a 48-unit building to be built a short walk from the Pacific Ocean.
"This is truly not our normal involvement," Santa Barbara Housing Authority Executive Director, Robert Pearson told AFP. "With over 3,000 units in the City of Santa Barbara, most of our work is with the poor."
But Pearson says that non-profit organizations in Santa Barbara have difficulty recruiting workers because of the lack of middle-income affordable housing.
"They're priced right out of the market here," said Pearson.
The average home in Santa Barbara is currently selling for 1.2 million dollars. The new development, on the last two acres of vacant land in the city, will have 48 units offered between 495,000 and 595,000 dollars.
"You can't find any dirt in this town for that kind price," said Pearson.
