For Rent: Kerrytown apartment, $575

When I've talked to people at Zingerman's about NeNo, they say the city needs its "workforce housing." As an example, several have told me their own employees would like to live closer to the Deli. Yet no one there was interested when I told them that Mrs. Seeley had a newly refurbished 2-bedroom apartment for rent. Her house is one short block from Kerrytown, and two from the Deli.

At $650 a month, two people could have shared that apartment for $325 each--but I was told that their staffers prefer to live alone. Now that option is available, too: Mrs. Seeley rented the 2-bedroom, but she now has a vacant 1-bedroom. The rent is $575 a month, and anyone who's interested can call her at 662-9716.

If you do the math, you'll find that this apartment costs $199 LESS than than the $774 ceiling for NeNo's 1-bedroom "workforce" units. But of course, few entry-level workers would rent a 1-bedroom in the first place. Mrs. Seeley's rents are a bargain, but even she charges an appropriate premium for having your own kitchen and bath.

That's why 1-bedrooms are by far the most expensive type of rental housing. I just did a quick search on arborweb.rentlinx.com, looking at 1- and 2-bedroom apartments currently offered for rent within one mile of the NeNo site. The first ten 1-bedrooms that came up rent for an average of $836. The first ten 2-bedrooms average $1,060, or $530 per person. That's $244 PER MONTH less than NeNo's $774 ceiling.

No wonder people trying to save money typically share apartments and homes. It turns out that some are even doing that again in 3 Oaks' houses on N. Main. Margaret Schankler recently spoke to a tenant who's moved into the gray house. It's a 3-bedroom and the rent is $1,000 a month. With three people sharing it, each is paying $333 a month. That's just a hair less than the $337 a month average we found in our own survey of Main Street rentals in May.

NeNo would provide less workforce housing than already exists on this site, at well over twice the cost. Tell us again--what's the "public benefit" here?