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it was on a community to have first level vacancies in buildings. <br /> Mr. Opara added that location was everything and having preliminary discussions about a site was crucial for <br /> mixed use projects. He reported these types of projects take one or two years to complete. He anticipated this <br /> market would come back, but would take time. <br /> Councilmember Allen understood there was not enough money to preserve the affordable housing that exists. <br /> He indicated some cities in the metro area have enacted policies or fundraising mechanisms to assist in <br /> protecting NOA. He questioned what other efforts have been successful to tackle the issue of affordable <br /> housing. <br /> Mr. Opara commented allocating funding for the gap was helpful, as well as working with the Met Council and <br /> DEED. He indicated affordable housing takes a great deal of time to complete in order to pull all of the <br /> funding and financing together. He stated the additional assistance from cities definitely helps get these <br /> projects across the finish line. <br /> Mr. Parritz explained that market rate projects were operating at a minimum viable return these days. He <br /> discussed the function of an inclusionary zoning requirement and how this functions as a tax for projects. He <br /> stated if cities began requiring developers to make 9% of their units affordable, but was willing to provide a tax <br /> assistance, then more affordable units would be created. He commented on the societal need for affordable <br /> housing and how it would benefit the community to share in the expense of creating more affordable housing. <br /> Ms. Harris commented further on the inclusionary zoning policies and how they were assisting in creating <br /> more affordable units, but these units were typically at the highest range or affordability. She stated this was <br /> not providing housing for those in need. She encouraged the City to think creatively on how to close the <br /> financing gap for future developers. <br /> Mr. Parritz encouraged the City to also consider how to deliver the affordable housing units as efficiently as <br /> possible. He explained it costs more to build new units than to buy an existing unit in a NOA property. <br /> Mr. Richards discussed how important it was to continue to build new housing each year because this protects <br /> the rental rates on older properties. <br /> EDC Commissioner Benke thanked staff and the Council for putting this workshop together. He encouraged <br /> the Council to share this information with the Planning Commission and the community. He asked what the <br /> panelists sees as the biggest danger before the City and what was the most promising opportunity. <br /> Ms. Harris explained the biggest risk was for the City to do nothing. She noted the City would continue to lose <br /> housing and displace residents. She reported the biggest opportunity was for the City to preserve it's NOA <br /> units. <br /> Mr. Opara added that if the City was open to these different ideas, being creative and thinking outside the box, <br /> so much could be accomplished on behalf of the community. He encouraged the City to pursue partnerships in <br /> order to improve the health of the communities housing. It was his hope the market would calm down so more <br /> viable affordable housing projects could come to the community. <br /> Gozola requested further information on how parking impacts the cost of projects. <br /> Mr. Parritz explained the cost of on grade parking was $5,000 to $10,000 per stall. He noted this increased to <br /> $25,000 to $30,000 for parking structures. He indicated developers want to build just the right amount of <br />