 (cont'd)
Downtown Cincinnati
is undergoing a condo building boom, but too many of these projects
appeal only to the high end market. Currently parking
is holding back building more affordable housing in the Central
Business District. Many Young Professionals, a demographic
that has consistently embraced urban living, is too often priced
out of condos downtown.
Parking
is the number one problem in developments downtown. It
forces developers to either build only very high end projects
or ask the city for tax rebates and credits to finance the construction
of underground parking structures. |
|
| Building
a parking structure, especially underground, is very expensive,
to the tune of $25,000 per space. If a condo has two spaces
that adds up to $50,000 per unit. This may not be a problem for
a $1 million dollar condo. The parking would only by 5% of the total
cost. However this is a problem for the $200,000 condo, parking
would account for 25% of the cost. Consider
this hypothetical scenario. A husband and wife want to buy a condo
downtown, own two cars, and have a budget of $200,000. Parking
costs the developer $50,000; $150,000 covers the cost of the actual
unit. |
