By JADE TRAN

Hyattsville is facing a mounting housing crisis — one that city leaders say is defined not only by the rising cost of rent, but also by a shortage of truly affordable options.

Roughly 11% of the city’s 5,147 rental units are considered affordable, according to David Cristeal, Hyattsville’s Department of Community and Economic Development housing manager. In Prince George’s County, “affordable” housing means occupants pay no more than 30% of their total income toward housing costs.

These 579 units across five apartment communities are both income- and rent-restricted. An additional portion of the city’s stock consists of older, lower-rent properties known as “naturally occurring affordable housing,” which lack formal protections, leaving them vulnerable to rent increases, especially as nearby areas grow and get more expensive. 

“The lack of affordable rental housing is one of the most acute needs in the city,” Cristeal said, referencing the 2021 Hyattsville Housing Action Agenda, which outlines short- and long-term strategies for the next decade. “About half of the city’s renters are ‘cost-burdened,’ spending more than 30% of their income on rent, and nearly one in five are ‘severely burdened,’ spending over half their income,” he explained.

Nearly nine out of 10 renters earning less than $50,000 a year fall into the cost-burdened category, he added. At the same time, rentals continue to get more expensive. New apartment complexes, such as The Six, Sovren and Canvas, list rents between $1,700 for a studio and nearly $3,900 for three-bedroom units. (For a monthly rent of $1,700 to be considered affordable by the county’s definition, the household would need to earn at least $68,000 a year; for $3,900 a month, at least $156,000 a year.)

City Councilmember Danny Schaible (Ward 2) said rising housing costs are outpacing wages, and that this mismatch is fueling the housing crisis’s fire.

“I think the fact that the cost of housing is increasing at a rate that’s above and beyond people’s income is at the root of the issue,” Schaible told the Life & Times. “Ideally, you’d want some sort of parity between the two.”

While new developments may advertise affordability, Cristeal says it depends on a household’s income. Sovren apartments, located near the West Hyattsville Metro station, opened in April of this year and advertise a number of its units as affordable.

“[Their prices] suffice for households earning more than $75,000 a year looking for a new apartment near a Metrorail stop,” Cristeal said in an email.

But for lower-income households?

“It does not suffice for one-person households earning less than $75,000 a year or four-person households earning less than $110,000 a year,” Cristeal added.

The Sovren apartment project received support from the Amazon Housing Equity Fund after Amazon established its second headquarters, known as HQ2, in the D.C. metro region. Schaible said the grant was “a gesture of goodwill,” and Sovren “applied, ultimately being given some funds to offset project costs.”

The specifics around Area Median Income (AMI) thresholds — which determine who qualifies for lower-income housing — depend on a mix of federal and county-level guidelines. AMI is the middle point of what households in a region earn — half make more, and half make less. People earning less than 30% of the AMI are considered “extremely low income,” while those earning 31–50% are “very low income” and those earning 51–80% are “low income.”

Alexis Yeoman, Prince George’s County public information officer and legislative liaison for the Department of Housing and Community Development, explained that while the county doesn’t calculate AMI, it follows federal methodologies depending on the funding source.

“The [Sovren] project’s listed limits align with the county’s preferences for housing affordability,” Yeoman wrote in an email. “Sovren’s website shows the threshold for maximum income per family size per unit; however, prospective tenants may make up to that amount in annual income. The amount listed is not a required floor; it’s the ceiling.” In other words, applicants don’t have to earn a certain minimum amount to qualify; they just can’t exceed the maximum income limit for their household size.

While Sovren fits the needs of tenants in the 60–80% AMI range, it doesn’t help those in lower income brackets, especially people earning 30% or less of the median income. For many Hyattsville residents, Sovren remains out of reach, according to Cristeal.

A church-led initiative, however, may offer a different solution.

The Sanctuary at Hyattsville Crossing is an affordable housing project planned for a 20-acre parcel, owned by the First United Methodist Church of Hyattsville, near the intersection of East-West Highway and Queen’s Chapel. The church and city hope to create a rental community dedicated to low-income and unhoused residents. Schaible said the site is expected to offer about 120 affordable units with a mix of housing types, including 10 transitional units for individuals experiencing homelessness, 30 “deeply affordable” one-bedroom units, priced at around $300 to $400 per month, and dedicated low-income senior housing.

“This is an initiative that’s near and dear to the heart of our mayor,” Schaible said. “So the mayor of Hyattsville has been very supportive of this, and the City of Hyattsville has supported it, and also we have offered our own tax abatement.”

The city plans to make the project financially feasible by returning 75% of the property taxes collected from the site back to the property owner. In practical terms, that means if the property generates $10,000 a year in taxes after construction, the city would keep only $2,500 and give the remaining $7,500 back in order to support the project’s affordability.

Schaible said the roots of Hyattsville’s affordable housing crisis go back to the Great Recession in 2007: During that time, many residential developers went out of business or left the industry entirely, which led to a slowdown in housing construction that the area is still feeling today.

Schiable said that even now, the county’s ability to expand its housing options is still being held back — this time by restrictive zoning laws.

“Zoning is a part of that problem,” Schiable said. “A lot of potential development is precluded because zoning regulations don’t allow it, and it also makes it cumbersome and burdensome to develop if you want to get into that space, too. ” 

In response, city officials have adopted an “Affordable Housing Strategy,” with the original 2021 housing action agenda forming one phase of the effort. The strategy focuses on four key actions: establishing a local housing fund, using public land to support development, introducing rent regulations — including rent stabilization efforts championed by councilmembers like Schaible — and expanding tenant protections. 

Still, Cristeal noted, “The city has more control over the supply rather than [the] demand part of the housing problem.”

As D.C. continues to grow and housing prices rise, more affluent residents are moving into nearby areas like Prince George’s County. This influx puts pressure on cities like Hyattsville, which now faces a crossroad: continue catering to incoming higher earners, or build affordable homes for longtime and low-income residents to stay.

Jade Tran is an undergraduate journalism student at the University of Maryland.