LOS ANGELES—“The mixed-income model is one that really works,”Daryl J. Carter, founder, chairman and executiveofficer at Avanath Capital Management LLC, said ona panel discussing multifamily and affordabilityissues at the University of Southern California's CasdenReal Estate Economics Multifamily Forecast. The panel,moderated by Gary D. Painter, professor atUSC Price School of Public Policy, includedRaphael W. Bostic, director of USCBedrosian Center on Governance, andWilliam A. Witte, chairman and CEO ofRelated California.

Listing statistics related to the issue, Carter explained that arecent evaluation done by the National MultifamilyCounsel showed that the medium income of the averagerenter is $36,000, and Bostic revealed that there are 11 millionpeople only one paycheck away from homelessness. “The trend ismoving in the wrong direction,” said Bostic. “We are living in aneconomy where there are two economies, with fewer and fewer folksin the middle.”

In discussing which development models work best to help fillthe supply of affordable housing, Carter was a fan of themixed-income model, a model which Witte has had experiencebuilding. “People are getting discretionary entitlements and theydon't want to reserve 15% for affordable housing; that'sridiculous,” he declared. Witte was also a fan of developmentmodels like granny flats as a way to contribute to the need forsenior housing. “No one thing is a cure-all, but you would at leastaddress one of the issues,” he added.