Google housing

A billion for housing. Sounds great right? (“Google dedicartes $1 billion for housing” in the June 19 edition of the Daily Journal). Lets do the math. Google proposed $1 billion to build 15,000 housing units. One-million-dollars divided by 15,000 units equals $67,000 per unit. I am not sure if there is any company in the United States that can build a code compliant housing unit for $67,000. My guess is that a minimum cost for a no-frills minimum profit one-bedroom new construction apartment is closer to $250,000-$300,000 per unit. So where is the other $3 billion to $4 billion going to come from?

While a billion dollars for 15,000 homes sounds impressive for Google, the numbers don’t add up. A more realistic billion dollars for 4,000 housing units doesn’t sound so impressive. Yes, 4,000 housing units would make a difference. But the county is adding to the housing deficit by double or triple that amount each year by building massive new office complexes. The only solution to stop making the housing problem worse is to stop all new office space construction in the county for five years. Only then will we stop making the problem worse and maybe start making the problem better. Developers will only start building large housing developments only when they are not allowed to build new office buildings. Look at downtown Redwood City with its large new housing developments.

Robert Harker

San Mateo