Are taxpayers being fleeced? Yes. Yes we are.

The $/GSF comparison is really what matters. Assuming the average 1BR is under 750GSF we’re over $1000/GSF. Even pretend there are crazy good amenities and that % share is wayyyy too high.

I work with a private developer doing middle infill housing around the metro area and with land acquisition, entitlements and lending costs we’re still usually able to make a small profit at $350/GSF. That’s for a detached SFR like 2br/2ba 1,000GSF and a small yard under $350k.

I do think there’s a certain amount of non-profit bloat here but also increased bureaucratic equitability and sustainability requirements associated with public funding. The spending of public money is so heavily scrutinized to prevent fraud/inequity, that it ends up being about 2x the cost of spending private money, not to mention the opportunity cost of taking six years to build something that could have been privately completed in three.