Who really pays for 'affordable' housing?

Dear Editor,

I’ve been following with increasing interest the ongoing discussion regarding affordable housing here in Yorktown and some of the suggested approaches give me pause.

One approach that gives me pause in particular is the “mandate” approach, which would force the developer of new housing to include a certain amount of units at well below market rate before an approval to build is granted. Throughout these discussions, I have repeatedly heard newly built units in town that are selling at $800k-plus referred to as “high end” or “luxury,” the thinking being if the developer needs to recoup his losses on the affordable units, he can simply add it on to the higher end units. Heck, if they can afford $800k, they can afford $850K, right?

Wrong. Sadly, $800k doesn’t describe “luxury” or “high end” in these times. These are units that middle class working families and young families are buying, having no other alternative. They may not want to spend that much, but the housing shortage and market rates leave them little choice. How can we describe “luxury” at that price point when a basic 1,850 square-foot raised ranch sells for $700k and up?

Let's be sure, however we deal with this, that we don’t end up with a scenario where truly affluent folks aren’t affected, those who need affordable housing get their needs addressed, and the working class family gets the bill.

-Michael Sammarco, Yorktown Heights