Three model homes at Henshaw Farm, the 128-lot subdivision being built in South Albany by Lennar, a nationwide company.
In case you have forgotten, an Albany city committee is still struggling with how to make housing cost less. Meanwhile, builders are going ahead just like they always have — building houses they think they can sell.
In South Albany, off Ellingson Road and Columbus Street, the Henshaw Farm subdivision has started selling houses even though only three model homes have been completed.
This is a traditional suburban subdivision of 128 tightly packed lots, with single-family houses about five paces apart.
On its website the builder, a nationwide company called Lennar, says the houses are priced at from $434,900 to $574,900. The company says this is the “starting price.”
A previous council approved the annexation of Henshaw Farm years ago. More recently the city approved the subdivision. And the current council just approved the annexation of additional farmland in that area so that it too can be developed — by Lennar, as it happens.
At the same time, the council-appointed Housing Affordability Task Force continues to keep the city’s consultants busy.
On Thursday the task force will have its third meeting to work toward an “Albany Housing Implementation Plan.” Never mind that housing is already being “implemented” right and left.
The task force’s goal is to find ways of encouraging the construction of more housing that more people can afford to buy or rent. In the end, some months from now, following an effort to “engage a broad spectrum of the community in conversations and input around housing needs,” the task force hopes the council will “adopt policies and tools that promote fair and equitable housing choices for all residents, especially residents of protected classes and those experiencing housing insecurity.”
Specifically, what are they talking about? Among others, the ideas include requiring a greater density of new housing, eliminating off-street parking requirements for very small houses, and cutting back on system development fees to support the future expansion of streets and utilities.
This will, of course, require more revisions of the development code and zoning regulations, which likely will take years. So if these changes in policies and rules eventually have some effect, the results won’t be seen for another generation.
In the meantime, in the real world and on the ground, you can count on builders to keep constructing what they think the market can support. (hh)
A street sign in Henshaw Farm. Who decides on street names anyway?
Henshaw Farm evidenly is a multilingual construction site.
What’s up with those signs? Aren’t we in America? If you can’t read and understand English, you don’t belong here! Vagrants are bad enough, now more burden with people who don’t speak our language and probably won’t respect us or our laws.
Think how the native Americans must have felt when we took over their land, spoke a different language and didn’t respect their laws.
Why bring up taking of the Indian land hundreds of years ago? Civilizations come and go and who’s to say we’ll even be able to keep this land in the future? The Indians would have lost the land due to technology by a number of countries of that day eventually. We should celebrate the Indian culture but guilt of the past disrespects the contributions Native Americans have made to our mutual culture in the present.
Birdieken is spot on. There is no need to learn from past mistakes. Nobody should be forced top sacrifice future profit at the altar of this whining group, or that sullen tribe, or bitter former land owners who got screwed in the past. There is nothing to be done about those situations. There is no requirement to reflect on past actions regardless of how egregious those actions might have been. All we need do is plow ahead sans consideration of how things might have been done differently, in the “Christian Way.”
Like Birdieken said so effortlessly and eloquently: “Civilizations come and go…”
For your consideration, UP FROM SLAVERY by Booker T. Washington
Birdieken is spot on. There is no need to learn from past mistakes. Nobody should be forced to sacrifice future profit at the altar of this whining group, or that sullen tribe, or bitter former land owners who got screwed in the past. There is nothing to be done about those situations. There is no requirement to reflect on past actions regardless of how egregious those actions might have been. All we need do is plow ahead sans consideration of how things might have been done differently, in the “Christian Way.”
Like Birdieken said so effortlessly and eloquently: “Civilizations come and go…”
Well, if the signs are for the construction workers, I guess they’re already here.
Any idea what language(s) those signs are in? Just curious
They don’t look Native American, or at least Native North American.
Google Translate seems to say:
English
Spanish
Russian
Belarusian
Ukrainian
I think the concept of hasso’s blog was lost The supposed affordable housing task force is the one that should be using the tools we have been given to think out solutions to affordable housing which isn’t going to happen in Albany. The mayor started this task force with good will towards getting something done, but staff has done it again. I believe it’s hopeless. My apologies To the citizens of Albany that the building community of Albany can’t give you affordable housing.
We too here in Albany can now look like California with the construction of row upon row of tightly spaced “cookie cutter” houses
I still see no mention of infrastructure like roads …..
Most folks here cannot afford these “affordable “ houses. Folks are coming up from California to buy them. Just like our new neighbors
Why don’t you have a builder detail the costs of a new house and ask the city to show how he can cut them in order to have affordable housing. The first thing you will notice how much cost is in the land and city services before a dime is spent building the house.
I totally agree but it’s not going to happen. It’s called revenue stream and it has to flow
“At the same time, the council-appointed Housing Affordability Task Force continues to keep the city’s consultants busy.”
How much money are they spending on a problem they have no control over?
Would you really want a “council-appointed Housing Affordability Task Force” to have control over YOUR property.
It’s just more BS to make a few PERS employees feel smug as they fatten their pensions.
It’s NOT about builders. They just want to never have to pay any fees for anything, especially Quinn.
The problem is what people are paid. You work 40 hours a week, you ought to be able to afford a low end apartment or house. BUT THEY CAN’T.
Raise the pay, and builders will be unable to keep up with the demand.
Where do you think the money is going to come from for the pay to be raised? Just as we’ve seen with the increase in the minimum wage, prices are also increased thus essentially nullifying the pay increase in some respects.
That says nothing that your assumption about working 40 hours should be enough to afford housing. Who said 40 hours should be enough to guarantee owning a home? Why not 50 or 60? Next thing you know, people will expect to be making enough money working 20 hours a week and still afford all their dreams.
Especially quinn. Interesting I am one of a few people in Albany that has a passion for affordable housing. My track record proves it. Especially quinn.