Jorge “Junior” Ibarra, CEO of West Des Moines-based Ibarra Realty Group, was one of six panelists in a recent Business Record Project515 virtual event on affordable housing. Next year, the prices of houses for sale in the Des Moines area are expected to jump 16%, Ibarra said. “That’s going to price a lot of consumers out of the market,” he said. “We all know that homeownership is a large portion of the mass population’s wealth.” To watch the entire discussion, click here.

If Des Moines-area communities want to attract new businesses and keep existing ones, then housing priced at levels the companies’ workers can afford needs to be provided, said panelists who took part in a recent discussion on affordable housing.

“Employees need somewhere to live, and employers need employees,” said Christine Gordon, housing planner for the city of West Des Moines. “It’s important for all economic development professionals, as we’re bring businesses in, to talk about where [a company’s] employees are going to live.

“I think people are finally understanding how those two things are tied together, and it’s so important to our metro to tie those things together.”

Gordon was among six people who participated in the Business Record’s recent Project515  virtual event that focused on affordable housing.

Other panelists included Matt Hauge, director of communications and community outreach for the Polk County Housing Trust Fund; Wade Hiner, president, sales and marketing at Destiny Homes; Jorge “Junior” Ibarra, CEO of Ibarra Realty Group; Teree Caldwell-Johnson, CEO at Oakridge Neighborhood and Oakridge Neighborhood Services; and Mark Wilson, branch manager at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

Hiner said developers should work with both existing employers and those new to the area to find out what their workers are being paid.

“From there, we work backwards,” Hiner said. “What does the product need to be? Is it an apartment? Is it a duplex? A single-family home? And if so, what are those price points of those sweet spots of those salaries of those people that are going to be coming here? …What are these folks going to be paid and what, then, can we build that they can afford?

“It’s very strategic.”

To watch the entire video, click here.