REPORT II: PROJECT USE & MARKET DESCRIPTION

The Riviera
Mark Rybski
9113 Baltimore Ave, College Park
April 28th, 2022
Narrative on the profile of Prospective User:

The Riviera at 9133 Baltimore Ave will be an affordable housing project that will

be targeted to tenants aged 25-60, generally, working-class people, targeted for

households with a median income between $60,000-$100,000. Currently, 9113

Baltimore Ave is located in the neighborhood of Beltsville, within College Park Maryland,

with a total neighborhood population of 20,113 people as of 2020. In 2010 the

neighborhood's population was 16,772 which shows that the population has been

growing since 2010. Within Beltsville diversity ranges from 53.7% white, 17.6% African

American, and 17.2% Hispanic (Census). The total population split between gender

consists of 48.89% female and 51.11% male with the median age coming in at 36 years

old representing a community full of young adults which happens to be right in between

the Rivieras target age range (Census).

This apartment will range in unit size from 1-3 bedrooms, meaning individuals

and small families alike can call the Riviera home. Rents will range from $2,500 a month

for 3-bedroom units to $1,800 a month for 2 bedrooms and $1,500 for 1-bedroom units.

This pricing is based on renters being able to afford 30% of their gross monthly income.

Example: Based on rents that equal 30% of a family’s household income, If a

2-bedroom apartment costs $1,800 a month, then we can calculate that the family's

monthly income must be around $72,000 a year to qualify for this unit. As seen in the

graph below, the median household income in College Park has been fairly consistent

since 2018 hovering around $68,000 which is in the sweet spot for renters of 1-bedroom

units. The line above shows the median household income for Laurel/Greenbelt, which

is another tenant pool that may be interested in living in the Riviera. This median
income is about $85,000 a year, which moves into the 2–3-bedroom tranche (census).

As you can see their surrounding areas' median income fits well within our target

market's income qualifications, showing that there is a large pool of potential local

tenants that would qualify for this building.

*Graph on medium household income Source: Census

*Source of graphs: https://datausa.io/profile/geo/college-park-md/

Rental apartment - Market and Competition:

The search for affordable housing throughout the Washington metro area has

and continues to be a great struggle for an immense amount of people over the past

years. Nationally the rent increased by 11.3% over the course of a year and the fast

paste growth continues (Costar). According to the Washington post “Rents continue to

rise at the fastest pace in decades, making housing costlier than ever for many

Americans” (Alcantara, 2022). The market for finding affordable housing is already

incredibly compact and the D.C area is an exceptionally difficult area to find affordable

apartments due to the current shortfall of affordable housing in the area and all around

the nation. With this, there is a recent surplus of people who are migrating to the

suburbs around the D.C area to find more affordable housing units to live in which

makes the Riviera a very attractive development (Alcantara, 2022). The shortfall is

predicted to get even worse “in the coming months, as mortgage rates, already reaching

highs not seen since 2011 thanks to rising interest rates” will cause more people to rent

(Alcantara, 2022). To add, these rising rates in rent are taking a toll on low-income

families creating a significant need for more affordable housing units. “As a result of

affordable housing units, 85% of low-income renters could not afford the rent and 70%

spent half of their incomes on housing costs” (Reports.NLIHC, 2021).

Competitive Market:

As you can see from the map above there are three existing affordable housing units

that The Riviera would be in competition with. Prices for these apartments range from

$1,200-$2,500 per month.

1. The Spellman House Apartments are located at 4711 Berwyn House Road In

College Park, Maryland. This affordable housing building was built in 1982 and

includes 141, 62+ age-restricted, 1-bedroom, affordable housing units. Some

property amenities include a community room, a library, a laundry room, and a

salon. Overall this building is a bit dated and only offers age-restricted 1-bedroom

units, so besides older tenants, this building will not be a huge competitor of the

Rivera.
2. Alden-Berkley Townhomes- 4954 Lakeland Rd, College Park, MD: These

affordable housing units are slightly different from what the Riviera will offer as

these units are townhomes rather than apartments, offering tenants slightly more

square footage as well as options for small yard space. These townhomes are

subsidized by HUD section 8 housing, which limits residents to paying 30% of

their gross income for rent. This housing project was built in 1984 and includes

56 units consisting of 1–5-bedroom options. Some amenities that they include

are a community clubhouse and the basic unit features such as a washer/dryer,

kitchen, refrigerator, and carpeting. The Berkley Townhomes could definitely

pose as competition for the Riviera for tenants that prefer larger spaces and

easier access to outdoor space, like options for a small personal backyard.
 3. Attic Towers - 9014 Rhode Island Ave, College Park, MD built-in 1947. This

affordable housing project is another low-income apartment complex with 108

units between studio and 1-bedroom units. This development has the basic

apartment amenities such as a kitchen, carpeting, and dishwasher. Overall this

development is a bit aged and not too aesthetically pleasing to the eye. It is also

limited to only 1-bedroom units, unlike the Riviera.

*Source:https://affordablehousingonline.com
Narrative analyzing supply:

There are several opportunities and limitations to my proposed use of affordable

housing at the Riviera. Current market rents continue to increase all over the country,

especially in areas surrounding large metropolitan cities like Washington, DC

(Reports.NLIHC, 2021). There are also people within the College Park/Beltsville area

who cannot afford these increased prices for apartment units. Many new developments

are going up in the area, many of which are geared towards students, like the Aster

which will be market-rate units. However, many developers choose not to build

affordable housing due to the lower rents that are required as well as the complexity of
some of the programs like the LIHTC program (Reports.NLIHC, 2021). Therefore, due

to some of the hesitation to build affordable housing projects I have seen this as an

opportunity to develop a brand-new affordable housing project in the College Park area.

After analyzing the area’s median income, my proposal to create affordable housing

was further confirmed, showing a strong supply of potential tenants, as well as a strong

demand after looking at the comparable options in the area, most of which are subpar to

my proposal of brand-new ground-up development, which will be modern, clean, and

appealing.

The limitations of this proposed project are the obvious limitations of only being

able to market these units to people who fall within the correct income category, as well

as not being able to accommodate students, which make up a large part of the College

Park tenant base. Overall, an affordable housing project is usually more complex to plan

and develop compared to market-rate apartments, which is another limitation of sorts.

However, large corporations also see the upside to affordable housing

development, proving that this proposal has potential. As seen in the article “Amazon

commits $2 billion to building over 700 affordable homes near Md. Metro stations”,

Amazon has pledged over $82 million to help fund affordable housing units in the

College Park area. One of these projects is the “Atworth” which will be built right next to

the metro station in College Park, which when finished would be a main competitor to

The Riviera (Roussey, 2022).

:
Narrative describing your proposed uses:

The vision for 9113 Baltimore Ave is to develop much-needed affordable housing

units with ground-level commercial space. A Days Inn motel currently exists on the

property and my plan is to acquire this building and demolish the existing structure, and

parking lots in order to prepare the lot for the ground-up development of The Riviera. If

there is a potential to acquire the adjacent properties, it would be worth looking into this

opportunity in order to expand this project and build more units.

More affordable housing units are needed within the area for both low-income

individuals and families. The vision is to have a mix of unit sizes ranging from 1-3

bedrooms, with a small portion of commercial space on the ground floor. Utilizing

subsidies like the LIHTC and other affordable housing credits will enable us to develop

a building with nice finishes and layouts, providing a safe and comfortable place for

people in the lower-income brackets to live. Within the development, we would like to

include amenities such as a courtyard with a pool, a community clubhouse, a small

fitness room, and some commercial space. The units would be constructed as attractive

as possible with the amount of money we have including a kitchen, Hardwood floor, and

washer/dryer.

The picture below replicates what the Riviera's design may look like. This

building will be able to look stylish and nice due to the subsidies that will help us cover

the construction costs of the development. This building may be able to support an

additional level of residential units, making up a total of 5 floors, with the bottom

consisting of retail. This style of building will also fit in nicely with the current new

developments that are found within the area.

*Source: North Sound

Commercial Real Estate

Conclusion:

With the rate at which rent for apartments is rising these past few years more and

more people are finding it hard to find a comfortable and affordable place to live. The

lack of affordable housing in America is a problem and we intend to help solve this

problem one step at a time with this new development. I believe that this apartment will

be of better use for College Park than the current Days Inn motel as there are many

other hotel options in the area, however, there are not as many affordable housing

options out there now. The development will be a nice, safe, and comfortable place for

families to live in and help bring many opportunities to them. The development is in a

great location and does not have to stiff of competition in the general area. With the

development of the Riviera, it helps bring us closer to solving the problem of the lack of

affordable housing in America and will help improve the lives of many financially

struggling families and individuals and give them a place they can call home.
Citations:

Affordable housing in college park prince georges county, Maryland. Affordable Housing
Online. (2020). Retrieved April 28, 2022, from
https://affordablehousingonline.com/housing-search/Maryland/College-Park

Alcantara, C. (2022, April 21). Rents are rising everywhere. see how much prices are up in
your area. The Washington Post. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2022/rising-rent-prices/

Markets & Submarkets. CoStar. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2022, from
https://product.costar.com/Market/#/search/detail/submarket/USA/type/1/property/11/
geography/6683/slice/all

Out of Reach . Reports.nlihc.org. (2021). Retrieved April 28, 2022, from

https://reports.nlihc.org/sites/default/files/oor/files/reports/state/ri_2021_oor_data.xlsx

Roussey, T. (2022, March 16). Amazon commits $2 billion to building over 700 affordable
homes near Md.. Metro stations. WBFF. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from
https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/metro-affordable-housing-developments-amazon-h
ousing-equity-fund-new-carrollton-college-park-project-748-homes-prince-georges-county
-maryland-dc-area-public-transit

U.S. Census Bureau quickfacts: United States. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2022, from
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/US