If you needed any further evidence that there is little demand for new luxury apartments at the absurdly-inflated market rate rents of Montgomery County today, look no further than The Premier at 8711 Georgia Avenue in downtown Silver Spring. The building, newly constructed a little over a decade ago, has been sold to BrookWynn Capital and Affordable Homes & Communities for $42 million. This partnership plans to convert more than half of the units to affordable housing. Such new buildings across the county - the same buildings our elected officials and the Abundance Bros. tell us all zoning rules must be tossed to make way for over every square inch of MoCo - are riddled with vacant units, which must be filled by other means ranging from college dorms to illegal Airbnb rentals. That an affordable housing partnership would be the winning bidder for a new, luxury apartment tower tells you all you need to know about the lack of demand for 1-bedroom apartments at artificially-inflated rates.
This seems like a vindication of the "abundance bros" position. A "luxury" building built by developers at market rate prices now benefits low-income locals. If this didn't get built, these new low-income renters wouldn't be able to live here. Would they be better off if this building never went up?
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