Thread by @JoshuaPoe_Lou

LONG THREAD - Most of the Louisville Metro's funding for affordable housing is not benefiting the people who need it most.

In order to understand the relationship b/t Louisville Metro Government (LMG) and private developers, you have to return to 2011, when the administration first came into office. That election was essentially a coup by the real estate industry in response to the 2008 market crash.

Developer attorney, Bill Bardenwerper, was allowed to shape policy and departmental realignment. In a document that came to be know as the "Bardenwerper Manifesto," he threatened public staff & outlined his vision for a local government entirely in service to developers.

Think about the implications of a private sector attorney giving this speech to public employees and you can start to understand the giveaways, the $140 million for Omni development, and public/private partnerships that created current budget crisis.

Around the same time, the Mayor issued a similar warning to non-profits. An atmosphere of subtle bullying and passive aggressive pathology ensued. Anyone critical of LMG policy was likely to find themselves stonewalled, fired, ghosted, & unfunded.

In order to understand LAHTF funding, you have to understand what Area Median Income (AMI) is, where it comes from and why. AMI was created in response to the 1937 Housing Act b/c private developers did not want to compete with public housing in the real estate market.

AMI is a relic of racist housing policies & an artificial metric for private real estate developers to inflate housing costs. It basically represents what developers wish people made in an area, so they could charge more for rent & home sales.

Louisville AMI is $71,500/yr, but this number is made-up and not based on any calculable metrics. Actual median household income in Louisville is $50,099/yr. 30% AMI is $21,450. 50% AMI is $35,750. 80% AMI is $57,200.

Only 25% of Black households in Louisville make at or over 80% AMI. 47% of Black households are at or below 50% AMI and 33% are below 30% AMI.

The 2019 Louisville Housing Needs Assessment (HNA) shows the greatest housing need is at 30% AMI, w/ only enough housing units for 46% of households at this level with an unmet need of 31,492 units. 74% supply of units for households at 50% AMI. Virtually no need at 80% & up.

According to the HNA, people can afford rents at $536/month & homes at $83,972 at 30% AMI. At 50% AMI, the rents rates are $893/month for rent & $139,653 for home prices. A one-bedroom apartment at 80% AMI rents for around $1,100 per month and home affordability is $223,445.

Black median household income in Louisville is $32,456/yr.
33% of Black household make <$20,000/yr
35% make b/t $20,000/yr. & $50,00/yr
32% of Black households make >$50,000.

There are only 2 census tracts in West Louisville where med hh incomes are above $30,000/yr. Many California neighborhoods residents would spend half their annual income at 80% AMI

The LAHTF is mandated to build at least 1/2 of their units at <50% AMI. In 2018, they spent $3.9 million on units at 50% (43%) & $5.1 million (57%) on units at 80% AMI. 80% AMI = $57,200/yr. This is market rate housing for the middle class & not reflective of LAHTFs mission.

Even though the LAHTF built or rehabbed 817 units (61%) at 50% AMI, 503 of those went for the Telesis Corp. renovation and rehab of City View Park in Russel and was an $1 mil investment. The other 518 units were at 80% AMI in 2018.

Of the $11.2 million allocated to Louisville CARES, $6.8 million (61%) was allocated at 80% AMI & most of the those projects are in the outlying suburbs. Many of the developers receiving these LMG funds sit on the boards of LAHTF & MHC (housing advocate org).

There are other problematic relationships b/t these developers and LMG. The developer receiving the most LAHTF funding ($6.3 million in 2 years) shares the same address as the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

The LAHTF recently allocated a $1 million loan ($900,000 payback) for Urban Acupuncture and HPI to build 24 units in Portland at 80% AMI (2506 Montgomery Ave). The median hh income here is $25,851. One bedroom apts at site could rent for over $1100/month.

In 2015, Louisville Metro Gov kicked off the Cedar Street Development initiative in Russell, with $6 million in forgivable loans to developers for market rate homes in ranges $98k to $150k. By the end of 2018, these homes are selling for >$175k and will keep going up.

An additional $1 million in 2019 allocated for market rate in this area, 1/2 forgivable, with no payback until homeownership. This investment will drive up costs even further. Median HH income in this area is less than $20k.

From 2006 to to 2016 white earnings in Louisville increased 2.5% while Black earnings decreased 3.9%. The current PVA assessments in West Louisville will further trigger rising rents and cost of living. Without polices to protect residents, displacement is inevitable.

Nashville is not making a $500 million investment in affordable housing (at 30% AMI) because they suddenly became compassionate. They're responding to a massive increase in homeless families resulting from developing too rapidly without protections.

We have to understand the relationship b/t racism and real estate. Poor communities have to organize to build collective power blocks to protect themselves from the market before they can benefit from it. Wealth creation through individual homeownership is a myth.

Despite spending $40 million on affordable housing, we cannot find evidence that the LAHTF has invested in any units at 30% AMI. For LMG to be that far off the mark in affordable housing demands some accountability.

We need policies. Community Land Trusts, Rent Control, Tenant's Unions. Collective Ownership Models & Invest/Divest from LMPD to defund the terrorism of Black communities and invest in housing. DM me or get in touch with @BLMLHousingTeam. We need amplification & organizing.