Over the next 5 years, the opportunity to provide new, attainable housing for middle income households is about 1 million homes per year. Together, we can make a difference.
How can we think differently and provide housing solutions for the missing middle? We recently discussed this with our community via think tanks and presentations at the 2019 live round table event in Denver. Vahe Avagyan presented on behalf of RCLCO, (you can find his slide deck here) below you’ll hear from his colleague, Adam Ducker.
HERE ARE ADAM’S INSIGHTS ON PLACE: strategies for overcoming the hurdles of zoning, NIMBYism, land and regulatory costs
In his years in the real estate industry, Adam Ducker, a senior managing director at RCLCO, a real estate advisory firm, has watched what he says has been “a slow creep toward over-concentration at the high end of the market. There’s now a missing market in the middle that’s large and underhoused.”
Adam, who leads the firm’s real estate economics practice area, says there’s a business case to be made around serving that particular market. “Attainable housing is compelling. It can be profitable and maybe at this moment in time it will be less prone to the ups and downs of the economic cycle.”
This is so, he says, because this is the kind of housing for people who need a place to live. “This isn’t a second beach house for someone who wants one in Santa Barbara and also one in Malibu. This is a teacher who gets their first job in Denver and needs a place to live. They have to move. Attainable housing doesn’t have the same boom and bust cycle as luxury homes.”
RCLCO usually gets involved during a project’s early stages, from sitting with architects at the conceptual, design and planning phases through zoning, building and beyond. “We help clients solve challenges and add value to their real estate endeavors,” Ducker says, by providing cutting edge market and financial analysis; entitlement and litigation support including fiscal, economic and other impact analysis; consumer research; product innovation; partner selection and public/private partnership formation. RCLCO clients include real estate developers, investors, the public sector, and non-real estate organizations seeking strategic and tactical advice regarding property investment, planning, and development.
During a recent project, RCLCO helped a major national developer create attainable housing west of Denver in a formerly industrial area. “We helped them think about a program that would serve a Millennial first-time home buyer. The homes are between $200,000 and $400,000 and more affordable than the established neighborhoods where prices are much higher or where today you might have to drive an hour out of Denver for that price range.” The developer was able to deliver value in an architecturally contemporary home with nice finishes and a sense of place within a community including a communal garden.
More About Adam
Adam Ducker
Senior Managing Director
RCLCO
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