(Read more on the multifamily market.)

LOS ANGELES-Two questions dominated the Los Angeles Business Council's Mayoral Housing Summit that was held on Oct. 17 at UCLA's Anderson School of Management: "How can we afford to build work force housing?" and "How can we afford not to?" The first question was easy to answer. Further housing development has virtually halted as homebuilders scramble to unload their excess supply to a population who can no longer qualify for a mortgage.

The second question was not as straightforward, however, as Kevin Ratner, president of Forest City, pointed out during the Reasons for Optimism: Preparing for the Economic Upswing panel. "It's the Fed rate. Deals require a lot more effort now," he said. "And construction costs, though they have come down, are still really high, so at the end of the day it's all about finding the gap to deliver affordable housing. Right now that involves innovative practices."

Dan Palmer, a fellow panelist and president of the Las Lomas project, a master-planned community in the north San Fernando Valley, agreed that although times are tough all is not lost for affordable, work force housing.

Recommended For You

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.

Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.