2017 SUMMER ECON
PRESENTING SPONSORS:
Carol Rosas
Jenny Jacobs
Nancy Burke, Malcolm Bennett, Molly Kirkland, Fred Tayco
Rent Control Around the Country
The improving economy has been good for
the apartment industry, but there is also fear
that a segment of the population, which has
not improved as quickly, and therefore is being
priced out of the rental market, is being left
behind. This is where the idea of rent control
comes in to play. However, panelists at the
conference argued that rather than keeping
rents down, these laws actually could discour-
age development, leading to more problems.
“An ever-increasing regulatory environment
can spiral out of control and lead to increased
housing costs, simply from the costs associated
with implementing the regulations,” said Fred
Tayco, Director of State and Local Government
Affairs, National Apartment Association. Col-
orado hasn’t experienced such an increase in
regulation and Nancy Burke, Vice President of
Government Affairs, Colorado Apartment As-
sociation, hopes we don’t get to that point.
“We’ve had elected officials say that we need
to look at rent control as an option,” said Burke.
“But we are working to find other options, such
as decreasing regulatory burden, and not pursue
rent control.”
industry? “When all of these apartments are
built, there is a lot of traffic that is generated,”
said Paul Jesaitis, Regional Transportation Di-
rector, Colorado Department of Transportation.
“And it’s not just the signal outside of a new
complex, but CDOT is thinking about the
whole system and how to distribute that traffic
across the entire metro area.” Current CDOT
projects include I-70 Express Lanes into the
mountains, which are already reducing traffic
by up to 52 percent, C-470 Express Lanes,
Central 70, and a pilot project at I-225 South
which includes turning the shoulder into a third
lane and restriping the road.
Transportation Challenges
The population and building boom in Col-
orado, along with an aging infrastructure and
funding gap lead to CDOT’s challenges. But
what does this have to do with the apartment
Paul Jesaitis
PLATINUM SPONSORS:
www.aamdhq.org
AUGUST 2017 • TRENDS | 17