I was happy in to hear in the recent Planning Commission meeting that the living spaces above the retail areas at the Carter complex were going to be built to "condominium standards", even though they are expected to be apartments.
Why not make these actual condominiums, rather than apartments? I reiterate that the trend towards renting over buying, which came as a result of the Great Recesssion, is essentially on its last legs, as discussed in my March 28 post.
Perhaps the various Germantown commissions that are making decisions about this project could listen to the will of the people. There was an informal poll posted on a large NextDoor group on Condos vs. Apartments. The results were telling--87 people voted, with well over 90% favoring condos over apartments.
In general, Germantown is an area of owners, and the citizens want to keep it that way. Or, they feel that the Thornwood apartments and the new ones planned are too many, too fast.
Since the citizens would essentially be partners in this development by offering Tax Incentive Financing, we should have an even greater input into various aspects of this project than another project that does not involve tax incentives. Will our leaders take the citizens' input into account?
I am updating the poll as of 4/15/2017-- over 200 people have voted, and the preference of condos over apartments remains overwhelming.
I would have voted in the poll if there had been a third option: no apartments OR condos. We have enough of both.
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