Five Questions With: John Marcantonio

John Marcantonio is CEO of the Rhode Island Builders Association, a trade association that represents the interests of member businesses such as home builders and real estate professionals.

Marcantonio recently answered questions posed by the Providence Business News regarding the demand for houses and how that’s boosting home construction.

PBN: Nationally, there’s been a surge in home-buying demand. With limited inventory of existing homes, do you see this trend leading to a spike in construction to help fill the gap?

MARCANTONIO: We are certainly seeing an increase in demand for new construction, but unit availability is still severely limited as the industry can only build what is planned for an approved [project], and locally that has been constrained for decades and is a major contributing factor in our housing shortages.

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But, in the places where new construction was underway, we have seen a large increase in demand, with some builders struggling to keep up with the spike, and in many cases, including in the remodeling sector, there is an apparent shortage of contractors. So, in general, the residential construction industry is very busy these days, but overall we are not allowed to build enough to fill the gap you refer to.

PBN: Where do Rhode Islanders want to build their next home? Is this a change from pre-COVID times?

MARCANTONIO: It’s way too early to tell what the long-term trend will be, but in the months following the outbreak there does seem to be a larger demand for single-family homes in less-congested areas. That said, my hunch is that the pandemic will change the way folks approach home buying, with a focus on work from home, generational living and overall safety concerns contributing to the need for more suburban living options and a change in home designs.

Let’s just hope the planning community and local policymakers can find the solutions needed to accommodate the housing needs of Rhode Island residents because if they don’t, our long-term economic health will be severely affected. I say that because now more than ever before, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that housing is a major variable in this pandemic, and it’s a major variable in our economic growth.

For too long, R.I. has viewed families, housing and population growth as a financial detriment, and locally, towns have done almost anything to prevent it. Now, too much is riding on this issue and we need a new perspective on planning – we can’t continue ignoring the issue.

PBN: What do people want in their next home? Is this different than in years past?

MARCANTONIO: Like I noted previously, there is a growing need for accessory dwelling units, as generational living has become more common. And I suspect with what has recently occurred in nursing homes and group living situations that many more elderly parents will be living with their kids.

Combine that with the disruption in the workplace and how a huge portion of the workforce will now continue to work from home, and you have not only home design and remodeling issues, you have dramatic lifestyle shifts that we are yet to see play out in our economy.

So yes, what folks will want, and do want, in their homes is changing rapidly now and I don’t expect it will go back to the way it was – these changes, in my opinion, are permanent.

PBN: The majority of those looking to build their next home have continued working. However, there’s still a large population of unemployed Rhode Islanders. Does Rhode Island have enough affordable homes for the middle class, and for low-wage workers?

MARCANTONIO: Rhode Island absolutely does not have enough housing, enough healthy housing, affordable housing, or housing options, and, unfortunately, I do not see any resolution to this issue in the short term. In fact, I suspect the problem will continue to deteriorate and that many middle-class and low-wage earners will struggle to find the housing they so desperately need.

PBN: Why is there a shortage of housing in Rhode Island?

MARCANTONIO: Great question, complicated but simple answer. The industry could, in time, build all we need, but we can only build up the plans that are in place. In Rhode Island, most cities and towns do not want housing, do not want families and certainly do not want kids. For the last 30 years, this local mindset has led to Rhode Island being one of the most regulated and restricted areas in the country to build new units.

In short, the state, by giving such authority to local towns and by putting the cost burdens for growth on them, has indirectly planned for this to happen, and the towns, with the ability to regulate housing, have created an environment where only the high end and low end can be constructed, and even then, in very small quantities.

The effects of this policy choice has led to Rhode Island losing population, losing massive amounts of school-age children and our industry losing its pervious ability to supply needed units – the industry has also lost its ability to provide a larger economic contribution.

As an industry, we remain committed to assisting these policymakers in finding solutions and remain dedicated to training the builders and tradesman needed to make these planned solutions a reality – we just hope the remedy is sooner than later.

Alexa Gagosz is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Gagosz@PBN.com. You may also follow her on Twitter at @AlexaGagosz.