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Currently, there’s a housing crisis, which is creating many problems for people who want to put down roots. Homebuyers, as well as renters, are concerned about the home prices that keep rising, making affordability one of the biggest issues. At a time like this, it’s our community’s workforce that is suffering the most. Not being able to find a residence that is close to their work can be quite challenging as it demotivates people in a number of ways. For example, an employee who spends around 30 minutes to 1 hour in traffic will have to wake up early and get ready on time to make sure that they reach their workplace on the dot. Now that housing options are limited, people are hunting for affordable houses despite having a decent salary. Even in households, where multiple people are working, the struggle to afford rent despite earning competitive wages is real. These people usually belong to our workforce, which includes teachers, firefighters, childcare specialists, and social workers. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, there’s nowhere in the US where an employee working full-time and earning minimum wage can afford a 2-bedroom apartment and that too on rent. Enter workforce housing. This term refers to affordable rental housing that is steadily becoming available for households that earn 80% to 120% of their area’s median… Read More »Maxwell Drever- Here’s How Workforce Housing Projects Can Help Ease Affordability Concerns

It is quite possible that our nation’s next economic downturn will expose a serious inability to care for those most vulnerable and lead to mass homelessness says Maxwell Drever. A December 2020 three-part survey demonstrated that increased homeownership is not a fix.   Firstly, the survey revealed that just 38% of its non-homeowner respondents had enough cash on hand to make a modest down payment if they were so inclined to purchase a home. Next, it found that 32% of the respondents had poor credit (or no credit at all). The remaining participants, representing 30% of the survey, simply had no interest in owning a home. Affordable Workforce Housing is a realistic solution.  This issue above has more to do with affordability than any other fact.  Given this reality, there is a platform that addresses this problem.  We’ve asked one of its creators, the legendary impact real estate investor  Maxwell Drever to explain. “During the pandemic, hotel occupancies cratered.  This fact forced many to close. And also Owners of these properties came to believe that their single-use buildings had become worthless.  So Companies like mine entered the picture with a realistic plan that assigned value to their empty hotels.  We provided, and continue to provide owners with the means to sell their properties for far more than they had expected”. Maxwell builds resort-like Affordable Workforce Housing… Read More »Maxwell Drever and the urgent need for reasonably priced rentals – aka Affordable Workforce Housing

Although workers are one of the critical foundations of our economy, it is sad that so many cannot find quality housing that fits into their budget. Most of these workers earn between $15 and $30 per hour says Maxwell Drever. Certainly, wages like these do not leave room for building enough savings over time to purchase a home, let alone make a substantial down payment for one. This fact, along with the series of other factors contributing to the current increase in housing costs, has created a desperate need for an increase in affordable workforce housing.  In this article, Maxwell Drever covers the importance of affordable workforce housing and the real-world challenges that have made this so.   What is Workforce Housing? Workforce housing is a term used to define housing suitable for households that earn 60-120% of an area’s median income, usually involving middle-income workers. The definition of workforce housing may change depending on the organization and agency. Due to the poor wages and wage disparity across the country, there have been extreme shortages of proper housing for workers, and while lower-income households are still, for the most part, taken care of, the workforce doesn’t have much to fall back on. Why is Affordable Workforce Housing Important? According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies in Harvard, nearly 25% of households that live on rent… Read More »Maxwell Drever Explains the Importance of Affordable Workforce Housing

The conversion and repurposing of broken hotels into affordable workforce housing space, designed for low-income households, provides several benefits, in an effort to house lower-earning individual families throughout the United States says Maxwell Drever. The benefits of conversion Among the benefits created through “broken” hotel to affordable workforce housing conversion are: The lowering of construction costs as compared to the price of new construction. The creation of additional units within the space of the original hotel structure. A substantial and immediate increase in the amount of local affordable workforce housing rental stock. According to Maxwell Drever, apartments created through these conversions provide varied benefits within highly desirable urban locations, almost always at lower than average rents and higher than expected amenities. The demand for such space demonstrates that converting old hotels into affordable workforce housing meets a fundamental need in many marketplaces across the nation. The conversion process The process begins with stabilization of the original hotel structure and preparatory work for the conversion. With the initiation of renovation, old partitions, ceilings, plumbing fixtures, and mechanical systems throughout the facility are removing and replacing. Other details such as windows, doors, and fire escapes must be repaired or rebuilt to meet existing code requirements. Framing for new walls and insulation installation occurs once the roof and other major structural updates are complete. Special care must be… Read More »Maxwell Drever on Converting Old “Broken” Hotels into Affordable Workforce Housing

People all across the globe are facing the problem of affordable housing. It is affecting millions of individuals who belong to the middle-income group. Now, what is a middle-income group? Those who work for around 35 to 40 hours a week but earn minimum wages fall within this category. They face difficulty in affording a typical two to the three-bedroom apartment for themselves. It is because of the low wages, increasing economic strain, and high rent of housing estates. Housing estate research reports reveal that ever since 2016, the problem has aggravated. Furthermore, the worldwide pandemic has aggravated the issue. It is here that the high-income earners are coming up with a positive approach to solving this problem. However, the challenge is not only typical for the low-income group. It is affecting every section of society differently. Governmental policies favor homeowners over the renter Affordable housing policies vary from one government to the other. Irrespective of these variations, they have one thing in common. The policies favor the homeowners and hotel owners over the renters. Since it is a tax deduction policy, Maxwell Drever asserts that the federal welfare program gets directed towards the higher strata of society. However, it is a challenging task to provide affordable housing to middle-income groups. The process of conversion of already existing structures into an affordable housing estate is… Read More »Maxwell Drever explains the meaning of the affordable housing crisis

Affordable housing has become a recent trend. The subject is gaining ground in contemporary times says Maxwell Drever. For providing improved civic communities to citizens belonging to different start of society, various agencies are playing a proactive role. Apart from this, the federal governments have come up with policy options and tax cuts to boost. Multiple experts and thinkers are trying to educate people on this particular issue. Remember that it is not a one or two-day game. It is a community undertaking that takes time. Although the concept is a new one, its implication got felt widely. The workforce population or the individuals belonging to different professions like teachers, firefighters, technicians, and laborers find it hard to get an affordable two to a three-bedroom apartment. Hence, it is not a surprise that they are on the verge of homelessness. For solving this issue, national arousal has taken place in different parts of the globe. Various local and federal government agencies are coming up with policy options to give the process a boost. However, people must understand the significance of the process of designing the neighborhood. How important is town crafting for the process explains Maxwell Drever? Well, when thinking in terms of affordable residences, you cannot leave out town crafting. The agencies are putting shelter on the heads of the needy and are also… Read More »The significance of designing neighborhoods and not buildings for affordable housing, as propounded by Maxwell Drever