Perhaps Pittsburgh is too close to the debate over downtown revitalization to make objective decisions. Luckily, State College offers a few opportunities to consider such things from afar.
The Centre Daily Times is reporting that a private developer (Yeah!) is consider a $39 million, 54-unit luxury-apartment complex. The final project would include a movie theater and the district's most expensive living spaces. Unfortunately, the developer is only willing to shell out $32 million. So they have scaled back the project and ... Oh wait. No they haven't. They have instead submitted a proposal whereby government grants will cover the other $7 million.
Ignoring the movie theater (It's AMC's responsibility to build movie theaters, not the government's, right?) the seven million dollars amounts to a $129,000 subsidy per apartment. A bit of math shows that considered over a 10-year period and ignoring lost interest, that's about $1,000 per apartment per month.
Remember, these are apartments for people who are very well off. Better of than anyone living in downtown State College. Maybe I'm crazy, but shouldn't those people should pay for their own luxury apartment? And if the rent those people are willing to pay will not cover such extravagant quarters, shouldn't the developers build something more modest?
Rubbish.
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