Puget Sound Business Journal reports that when the 24-story Luma condominiums open today it will be the "first modern-design condo building to open in Seattle's historic First Hill neighborhood in 34 years." It will also be just for rich people, as its units range from $565,000 to $1.36 million. The tower will also remind us that developers can only build for rich people because there is no (or too little) money to be made in building for poor or ordinary people. This is something even Marx knew back in the 19th century. He saw that any investment in housing demands lots of time to recover and make a profit. Developers rarely have that kind of time. They need a return sooner than later. This leaves them with two alternatives: sell to the rich or bank on a sharp increase of their investment's value. Markets can't wait, but governments can. This is why we need to build houses that can wait for the poor and the working classes.
