Across the United States, hotels are shutting their doors, many out of action for years. Many parts of America already face a severe affordable workforce housing crisis, but why not repurpose some existing structures to help mitigate it? The owners of these vacant properties are turning them into accommodation units with facilities like studio apartments that include all utilities and one large room, kitchenettes, and full baths. They can start at about USD500 – this could be good news for those who want to move forward in life but might not find themselves eligible for federal rent assistance. It is easier to offer these properties at low rent because empty buildings tend to be low-cost acquisitions, and converting them costs less than new construction.
Maxwell Drever makes this idea more attractive by shedding light on specific areas that play a critical role in successful hotel conversions that don’t act as shelters but as homes for middle-income families and individuals.
Choosing the right developers
An experienced developer can help you affiliate with the target cities and counties while helping with finding new and innovative funding sources. He can also navigate you through a sound plan of action to effectively combat your community’s affordable workforce housing problem and convert hotels into permanent housing on time. You cannot trade off this expertise for anything else, says Maxwell Drever.
Replicating their project success
The industry veterans often streamline the development process by identifying common factors that work in almost every scenario, with a few exceptions. Since any building conversion endeavor requires different levels of approval from various bodies, you can use their guidance to remove any bureaucratic hurdles.
Securing funding and entitlements
Because of the inexperience in this niche market, you can hesitate to put your money into the project. Also, it may not be feasible to offer truly low-cost rental accommodations without bringing down your development cost, among others. So the best solution can be seeking funding. Some federal programs are available to support these types of housing projects. But you may not know which one can be the best fit for your needs. If you ally with an experienced development team, you can reach suitable financial sources that eventually help you reduce your hotel conversion cost. Besides that, you can also expect additional entitlements to help the property maintain its wellbeing for many years.
Educating communities about the importance of inclusiveness
Although many people have become sensitive toward others’ struggles and needs, some societies still don’t support the idea of building affordable multifamily units for the middle-income workforce for fear this will affect their quality of lifestyle and culture. In many places, such mindsets tend to be the massive turnoff. It can potentially threaten a project’s timely progress while sometimes ending in total abandonment. It can be pretty risky for anyone. Hence, one needs to do their market research well, focusing on the communities living there to understand their main concerns and resolve them tactfully.
Property examination, analysis of features, zonal codes, and other aspects are also there that one has to consider.
