Propmodo Daily

By Franco Faraudo · Jan. 26, 2024

Greetings!

Today we delve into the critical question of how to simplify the process of constructing much-needed housing in America. Simplifying building regulations is one solution, including proposals to permit some multifamily buildings to have only one stairwell, despite many current building code restrictions. States like California and Washington have pioneered legislation to amend their building codes, with other states considering similar measures. But there are still plenty of detractors who argue that the safety risks outweigh the benefits.

First, let's touch upon the resilience of the REIT market, which, despite facing a challenging year with a 21.4% decline in share prices and significant obstacles for major firms, remains hopeful for a recovery in 2024. The anticipation of interest rate cuts fuels optimism for a more favorable market climate and a reduced valuation gap between public and private REITs.

Before we address today's main topic regarding the hurdles to increased housing construction, we've noted feedback from readers about inconsistencies in receiving the Propmodo Daily in their primary inbox. To ensure you always receive our emails, we recommend adding our new email address: [email protected], to your safe senders list or address book and taking the following steps:

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Now let's dig in, and don’t forget to answer the poll question after the story!

How Many Stairwells Do We Really Need?

In order to build the amount of housing we need in this country, something is going to have to change, particularly the pace and cost of construction. One way that builders and activists are suggesting to help bring more much-needed units on board is to reduce the number of stairwells that are required for multifamily buildings.

Buildings codes across the country require at least two staircases for every building. The reason for these rules is to allow for faster evacuation, easier access for first responders, and to provide redundancy of egress in case of an emergency. These are all great reasons to require multiple stairwells, but you have to weigh these pros against the cons. An additional stairwell can add costs to a project, but more importantly, it can require a larger footprint. In cities with small parcels or large setbacks that can require assemblage, which can be impossible or prohibitively expensive.

The “one stairwell” activists (yes, that is a thing) have made headway. Assembly Bill 835, passed in California, directs the Fire Marshal to propose standards that would allow for one stairwell construction. Senate Bill 5491 in Washington would allow buildings to be designed with one central stairway and elevator core. Similar bills have been introduced or proposed in Minnesota, New York, Oregon, and Maryland. Most of these only apply to buildings under a certain height, as taller buildings can be more difficult and dangerous to evacuate.

Proponents point to the fact that single stairwells have been the case for decades, if not centuries, in other countries, but not everyone is on board with this design change. An article came out last year with the headline Single Stair Layouts Are Not Going to Fix the Housing Crisis. The article makes some good points about how single stairwells should be accompanied by better fire suppression building codes, as they have in many European countries, but it goes off the rails a bit when it says: “Single stair is not going to fix the housing crisis, because the housing crisis stems from an economic system in which housing is a commodity and a money-making scheme instead of a human right to shelter.” Obviously, there is a bit of an anti-capitalist agenda baked in. And like most anti-capitalist ideas, there is absolutely no suggestion of what we could replace it with.

Requiring one stairwell is not going to fix the housing crisis. No one thing is. But it is another step in a long journey to make it easier to build the missing housing in this country. Fire safety is important, and lives could be at stake, but we have to remember that, thanks to better building codes and more fire-resistant building materials, structure fires have been on a steady decline since the 70s. Certain buildings should still have multiple stairwells, but we need to loosen regulations like these and look at buildings on a case-by-case basis if we want to have a chance at building enough new homes to ease America’s growing housing burden.

Feedback Loop

So what do you think about the multifamily stairwell controversy? Tell us your thoughts in our quick, anonymous poll below, and we’ll share the results Monday.

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Propmodo Daily is written and edited by Franco Faraudo with contributions from readers like you and the Propmodo team.

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