Affordable Housing Developer Cools NIMBY-ISM with YIMBY-ISM

Affordable housing continues to fight negative stereotypes, generalizations, ill perceptions and the “Not in My Back Yard” (NIMBY) mindset that is causing extreme housing shortages across the country. 

Two executives from Indianapolis-based KCG Companies offered actionable takeaways on how to counter the resistance and develop YIMBY — “Yes. In My Backyard” – during National Apartment Association’s Apartmentalize conference last week in San Diego.

Kimberly Hurd, executive vice president of property management, KCG Residential, said companies such as hers are constantly told, “Take it someplace else,” when it comes to proposing new development in markets across the country – generally the ones that need it most.

In Anderson, S.C., residents and local officials were all-in on bringing a Chick-fil-A restaurant to town. When KCG Companies proposed a 258-unit apartment community, Shockley Terrace, their immediate reaction was that affordable housing represented drug dealers and rapists – certainly not the clientele they wanted.

At a packed town council meeting that ran about three hours, the first thing they told us was that they had enough affordable housing because they had multiple Section 8 communities, Karla Burck, executive vice president of development, KCG Companies, said. “They didn’t want their property values to go down. But this is not what happens in affordable housing.”

The town’s mindset was that they needed more apartments, just not “affordable” apartments. Its views were mostly formed by what they had heard or been told. These “locals,” however, weren’t able to back that up with statistics or other evidence. 

Proving Intent with Statistics, Information

KCG Companies then set out to tactfully persuade them otherwise with information and proof.

Addressing the want for a Chick-fil-A restaurant, “we explained that for something like that to work, you need more households in your town to support it and affordable housing would help to provide that.”

Burck next demonstrated to the town’s residents what it takes to qualify to live at the community and showed that less than 10 percent of the community’s applicants were in the Section 8 program. Furthermore, KCG Companies explained that it was looking to provide workforce housing for those with 60 percent of area median income (AMI).

AMI (sometimes referenced as Median Family Income) is the household income for the median/middle household in a given region. Thus, looking at each household from poorest to wealthiest, the household ranked in the middle would be considered the median.

The middle or median income of an area is utilized to benchmark incomes levels and highlight the need for programs or services within a given community.

Solving the Town’s Water System Problem

Burck also let the group know that KCG Companies was a long-term holder of the property and had a strong, vested interest in its success.

Another concern was that the town had a poor water supply system and it would be a detriment to the new residents.

Upon learning that, KCG Companies hired a locator to identify where the aging pipes were located and restored them.

Burck said the local water company had never experienced such devotion to improvement by a developer. It wasn’t sure what to charge KCG Companies “per tap,” and ultimately settled on $1,000 per tap.

“The water company was thrilled and so were we,” Burck said. “Generally, a developer can pay as much as $2,500 per tap.”

Once Again, ‘You’ll Never Get It’

In another instance, KCG Companies set out to build the 158-unit community, Fairview Terrace, in a rural location south of Atlanta called Ellenwood, Ga.

Ellenwood hadn’t had any new housing in 20 years. KCG Companies first set out to have the area rezoned for housing.

“The locals told us, ‘You’ll never get it,’ Burck said, but after persevering, she found an attorney who was willing to help.

Once again, Burck said the local town commissioner told her, “I want new housing, just not affordable housing.” The locals also cited that it would bring down the area’s property values and the incoming residents’ children would worsen its schools’ performance and reputation.

Tugging at the Heartstrings

Burck and Hurd said they learned that the local commissioner cared deeply about his constituents, so they presented to him the thought, “How do you feel about the fact that so few of the people who work in your town can afford to live there?”

This got his attention, Burck said, and he acknowledged that having diverse types of housing in his town was important to its success.

Another concern was the town wanted to preserve the mature trees at the community site and add a security gate.

“This was a small price to pay to win them over and ‘get to yes,’ ” Burck said. “Now, they felt like we were neighbors and not intruders coming to cram our new apartments onto them. The commissioner even helped us with the design. He wanted the community to have a modern look (and it does).”

Ultimately, “this project worked because he was willing to look 10 years down the road and see the value that we were bringing,” Burck said.