Local resident urges council to demand income-eligibility and rent details for Walker Lofts

Cameron Golech, who identified himself at the meeting, told the council he supports the Walker Lofts affordable-housing project but warned that previous local conversions have produced rents that exceed common affordability benchmarks.

Golech cited the Memorial School conversion and the income limits used there, saying that for a single-person household the 30%-of-income benchmark equaled $1,601.25 a month and arguing that the memorial project's one-bedroom rent as stated in the project materials was higher than that threshold. "Even if you make the absolute top of the income limit, you could not afford to live at the Memorial School Project in a 1 bedroom unit," he said, and asked the council to request detailed unit costs and the income levels required to qualify when Walker Lofts comes before the council next month.

Golech said collecting and publishing those eligibility and rent numbers would help prevent people from becoming housing-cost burdened in projects that are nominally labeled 'affordable.'