In March I wrote a post calling out people who blame investors for rising rents and unaffordable housing. Today I’d like to highlight some reporting that gets it right.
This story by KUOW’s Joshua McNichols is a couple weeks old, but he hits the nail on the head, and I wanted to make sure it wasn’t overlooked. Why This Rickety Building Lost The Fight Against Rising Rents
Frustrated renters often blame developers. But the reality is more complicated…
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The Summit Inn started out as housing for people with mental health problems. It morphed into an artists’ hub over time because of its former owner, Peter Sikov, whose motto was to “create places where things can happen.”
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Rents at the Summit Inn stayed low because Sikov didn’t maintain the building much. Over time, it slid into disrepair.
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Last year, the Seattle City Council passed a law requiring that all rentals meet a standard. Apartments would be subject to random inspections.Sikov balked. And at the end of 2014, he sold the Summit Inn for twice what he paid in 1998.
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That’s when Brad Padden entered the picture.“We bought the building at today’s market rates,” Padden says. “There was no discount to us so that we could continue with that kind of patronage of the residents there.”
Padden and his business partner bought the building for almost $3 million.
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“When you buy a $3 million building, and you put $2 million into it, you have to recoup those costs,” he says.
You should read (or listen to) the entire story.
As Joshua points out, an investor can’t buy an apartment and increase the rents if the previous owner doesn’t first put it up for sale. If you insist on having someone to blame, perhaps you should be blaming the sellers, not the buyers.