By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
(Part one of two perspectives)
JAN. 16, 2024 | What caused people in northeastern Gwinnett to seek cityhood, that is, to pursue legislative OK to form the proposed city of Mulberry?
You may hear lots of reasons. However, it seems to us that the overriding consideration was the aversion that most all homeowners have to apartments being developed near them. Over and over, often at homeowner association meetings, people speak out about apartment units being built in their areas.
“Devalues our property,” they claim. Over the long term, this is probably correct.
Here’s what happens: the apartment complex being built is often referred to when proposed as a “luxury” unit. The developers do that anticipating that the nearby homeowners won’t mind having “high end” renters near them. You seldom hear the word “affordable housing” (meaning low rent) being proposed.
But what happens to most all apartment complexes? The new folks who move into the 200-300-400 units cause little problem in the first few years. But eventually these people move on, and new people move into these-now-not-quite-so-new units. And over time, they also move on, so that a third group arrives, each wave of new people not quite as substantial financially as the previous one. The effect, over time, is that the apartment complex suffers, from an economic level.
Meanwhile, something else happens. The original builder and financier of the apartment complex soon gets it virtually 100 percent rented. By then that firm is ready to move on and get their money out of it, and build more apartments, so the complex is sold. The second owner eventually does that himself, and over the years, the apartments are sold once more. Guess what? Each new owner seems to take less interest….and by and by, the apartments decline in another way.
For your consideration: “luxury” apartments nearly always decline.
If you have driven through many of our Gwinnett cities in recent months, you may have noticed apartment complexes sprouting up. Many resemble one another so much that they seem to come from the same architect. There is seldom a really different design to most of them.
Don’t you wonder what Gwinnett will look like in a few years? You can bet that those brand-new, sparkling apartments, we must realize, will eventually not look quite so bright. Makes you wonder if the cities of Lawrenceville, Suwanee, Snellville, Peachtree Corners, Lilburn, Duluth, Norcross and Sugar Hill (and maybe more cities) will be so proud to have allowed so many apartments right near the middle of town. Are we forecasting eventual slums? You decide.
The proliferation of these many apartments in Gwinnett is nothing new. Homeowners don’t want them, but county and city officials recognize that not everyone can afford a “luxury” living space. That’s why government officials continue to look for ways to have “affordable” housing so that the Average Joe who can’t afford to buy a house can have a place to live near his work.
So over and over, city planning and zoning boards approve new apartment housing, and the elected officials of that city (or the county) recognize this need for affordable housing and OK’s their recommendations for more apartments.
And that’s why homeowners in the northeast segment of Gwinnett got upset so deeply that they started considering having their own city to oversee growth, to try to put a stop to approving so many new apartments.
Is there a better way? Yes.
Read the January 19 edition of GwinnettForum for another perspective of housing possibilities.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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