More for Less? An Inquiry into Design and Construction Strategies for Addressing Multifamiliar Housing Costs

Hannah Hoyt, 2020
"Demand for multifamily housing, especially affordable and middle-income rental housing, is rising as the nation continues to add new households. However, overall housing production remains below needed levels given household growth. Many new multifamily units are renting at prices that are prohibitive for middle- and low-income renters. The need for more affordable multifamily housing is clear, but developers, architects and contractors face rising construction and land costs as they build multifamily housing.

As a 2019 Gramlich Fellow in Community and Economic Development, Hannah Hoyt carried over 30 interviews with developers, architects, contractors and policy makers, who described the challenges of increasing multifamily housing production. They noted the need for significant policy changes, from more federal support for housing, to local zoning changes to encourage housing production and job training programs to address labor shortages in the trades. However, they also acknowledged the slow pace of these policy changes. In practice, multifamily project teams often face significant budget gaps, scrambling to reduce costs while still building quality housing.”
Shelving
Architecture,
Socialism / Communism / Capitalism,