Multi-Tenant Housing Units (MTHU) Fact Sheet
December 24th, 2023

    • MTHU’s stand for Multi-Tenant Housing Units. They are like traditional boarding rooms or Single Room Occupancy (SRO) apartments, but with significant upgrades in technology, enhanced security requirements, strong tenant vetting, and strict regulations to ensure they do not become a public nuisance like the older forms of SRO’s.

    • MTHU’s were formerly called MCHU’s (Micro-Communal Housing Units). The name was changed to conform to Toronto, Ontario Canada’s program, which will be enacted city-wide in March 2024.

    • Forms of MTHU’s are also legal in San Jose, CA, Houston, TX and the state of Massachusetts.

    • The average rent for an MTHU unit is projected to be $600 per month. Comparatively, a studio apartment in Delray Beach rents for $1,800 per month.

    • MTHU’s are designed to be a permanent housing option for Non-Family Households (HH’s), or individuals, making less than $35,000 per year (less than 50% of the Palm Beach County median household income).

    • MTHU’s do not require any government subsidies or tax breaks.

  • (Source: 2022 US Census, 5YR ACS)

    • 22% of HH’s in Palm Beach County and 25% of HH’s in Delray Beach make less than $35,000 per year. The median HH income in Palm Beach County is $76,000. It is $98,000 per year for Family HH’s and $48,000 per year for Non-Family HH’s.

    • In Delray Beach, 34% of Non-Family HH’s (individuals) make under $35K per year compared to 17% of Family HH’s. Non-Family HH’s account for 64% of all HH’s under the $35K mark.

    • 16% of Delray HH’s make under $25,000 per year: 9% for Family HH’s vs. 24% for Non-Family HH’s.

    • 8% of Delray HH’s make under $15,000 per year: 5% for Family HH’s vs. 12% for Non-Family HH’s.

    • According to HUD Fair Rent guidelines (defined as 40th percentile rent), the average Fair Rent across the three Delray Zip Codes are $1,800 for studio/efficiency, $2,100 for 1-bedroom and $2,500 for 2-bedroom.

    • Assuming a 40% of gross income is spent on rent (HUD defines over 30% as “rent-burdened”), a person would need to earn $54,000, $63,000 and $75,000 per year to afford rent at “Fair Rent” levels in Delray Beach.

    • Persons making $35,000, $25,000 and $15,000 per year can afford, $1,200, $833 and $500 per month, assuming 40% of their gross income goes to rent, compared to the $1,800 Fair Rent level.

    • As a result of this disparity, 89% of Renters making under $35K spend more than 50% of their Gross Income on Rent. This compares to only 12% of Renters making over $35K.

    • Permit MTHU’s in the West-Atlantic Neighborhood Sub-District, which accounts for less than 2% of city land and about 3% of residents.

    • Minimum Room Size of 96 sq ft (12’ x 8’)

    • Maximum 24 Units per Property

    • Minimum Lot Size of 0.2 acres

    • 0.33 Parking Space per Unit (3 Rooms per Parking Space)

    • 0.25 Bathrooms per Unit (4 Units per Bathroom); 0.125 Kitchens per Unit (8 Units per Kitchen). A Kitchen is defined as one oven, one stove, one microwave, one refrigerator and one sink. A Bathroom must have one Toilet, one Shower and one Sink and must lock from the inside.

    • Each room must have a closet and a sink.

    • Minimum lease of six months.

    • 750 ft distance requirement between MTHU buildings.

    • Maximum 1.25 people per Unit in an MTHU building

    • Minimum age requirement of 18 years for residents.

    • Use tenant vetting standard established by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Department

    • Limited set of approved and licensed property managers, with one management representative required to live on-site.

    • Annual City licensing and inspections of each building paid for by annual impact fees.

    • Establish enhanced public safety and security standards for lighting, cameras and electronic access to the building and sections of the building.

    • City vetting of building owners during the development process and prior to any property sale.

    • Caps on rental prices pegged to HUD Fair Rent guidelines.

    • In October 2022, JIC presented a first version of an LDR revision to accommodate MTHU’s at a city commission workshop.

    • The proposal required just one sponsor to move it to the next step of city staff review. Despite private assurances by two of the commissioners that they would sponsor the proposal, the proposal failed to get any sponsorship at the meeting.

    • Since that time JIC has spent time gaining additional community feedback and support. We have also made several revisions to the initial proposal:

      • Changed the effected geography from the entire city to just the West Atlantic Neighborhood Sub-District

      • Remove Single Family Housing zones from the ordinance. It now would apply to only Mixed-Use and Multi-Family districts.

      • Reduced property density from 48 to 24 units max.

      • Reduced residents per unit from 2.00 to 1.25.

      • Added a minimum age requirement for residence to 18.

    • Over the past two years, Jetta Investment Company (JIC) has invested considerable time, effort and expense reaching out to community organizations and civic leaders explaining the MTHU concept.

    • We have conducted dozens of meetings and this new proposal reflects a considerable amount of feedback from citizens. The proposed LDR reflects the following measures based on civic feedback:

      • Inclusion of rental caps.

      • Plan to separate living areas by gender.

      • Plan to relocate tenants during any renovation period.

      • Increased minimum lease period.

      • Expanded security requirements.

      • Incorporate the HUD standard for tenant vetting.

    • JIC conducted an open house on June 24, 2023 of our current MTHU property at 105 NW 5th Avenue. This property has been in its current form since 1960, and it is grandfathered in to permit this use. Any expansion requires an LDR change.

    • JIC has gathered over 200 petition signatures supporting MTHU’s.

    • JIC has received letters of support from the following people and civic organizations:

      • State Senator Lori Berman

      • State Representative Joe Casello

      • State Representative Mike Caruso

      • County Commissioner Marci Woodward

      • The Set (West Atlantic) Neighborhood

      • Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce

      • The Spady Museum

      • Palm Beach County Homeless Coalition

      • Veterans & Homefront Voices

      • Delray Housing Authority

      • Gulfstream Goodwill Industries

      • Community Partners of Palm Beach County

    • In July 2023, over a dozen people from the West Atlantic community spoke in favor of MTHU’s during the public comments section of the Delray City Commission meeting.

    • In October 2023, JIC co-sponsored a survey with Friends of Delray among a randomly selected sample of 315 Active Delray Beach Voter.

    • The survey was conducted by nationally recognized market research firm, American Pulse, via a combination of phone and online surveys.

    • An Active Voter is defined as anyone that has voted in the past four years, and indicates they definitely or probably will vote in the March 2024 municipal elections. Names were acquired from the county voting list.

    • Respondents were asked questions about issues of importance, attitudes towards Delray commissioner candidates and attitudes towards affordable housing, overall, and MTHU’s specifically.

    • ½ of the sample was exposed to an MTHU concept with some information (Limited Info): rents are $600 and they are similar to rooming houses. The other ½ of the sample was provided more information on MTHU’s (Full Info): approved in Toronto, enhanced security and tenant vetting, no government subsidy required and they’ve existed in Delray Beach since 1960.

    • Support for creating more affordable housing for low-wage earners was extremely high among the sample: 74% Supported (53% Strongly) and only 18% Opposed.

    • For the Limited Info Sample, Voters did not support MTHU’s. 42% Favored; 48% Opposed. Strong Support was 16% compared to 32% Strong Opposition.

    • For the Full Info Sample MTHU support shot up! By a 3:1 margin, Delray Beach voters supported MTHU’s: 70% Support vs. 23% Opposition.

    • In particular, Strong Support more than doubled from 16% to 34% while Strong Opposition dropped sharply, 32% down to 17%.

    • Support in the Full Info sample was particularly strong among: Blacks (95%/0%), Under $35k income (89%/6%), and Zip Code 34444, the community where the MTHU proposal would apply (84%/13%).

    • As part of our community outreach efforts, JIC heard many legitimate concerns about MTHU’s.

    • The top three concerns were shared bathrooms, bad experiences with sober homes, and fear of abuse by landlords. There were also concerns raised about increased crime and other nuisances from building low-income housing.

    • These concerns - and many others - are addressed on the MTHU website. People can submit any concerns not addressed in the FAQ’s through that website.

    • This property is a Mixed-Use 10-unit apartment with a commercial space facing the 5th Ave. NW. It is located in the heart of the Western Settler’s Historical District in Delray Beach.

    • The building was built in 1960 by Thomas Kemp, a prominent African-American businessman in the community. It has been operating as an SRO since it’s inception in 1960.

    • The 10 apartment units are comprised as one, 2-BDRM apartment, two Expanded Studios and seven MTHU’s.

    • Of the 10 units, five are occupied by people that were homeless prior to moving in.

    • Six of the tenants are employed and work locally in Delray Beach; three retired and one disabled. One works for the City of Delray Beach, and another works for Delray Housing Group. Both can walk to their workplace.

    • There are only two cars among the seven MTHU tenants. There are four cars among the three traditional apartments.

    • The three MTHU tenants with the longest longevity have lived at the address a combined 14 years. Two have been there 2-4 years, and two are within the last year. Both of the new tenants were homeless prior to moving in.

    • Human Right: all people deserve a shelter that is clean and safe.

    • Reduce homelessness.

    • Provide a pool of low-wage workers to local businesses.

    • Free up cash to spend on other goods and services beside rent.

    • Stabilize communities with permanent housing solutions.

  • Dr. Kurt Jetta, President, Jetta Investment Company.

    Katherine O’Donnell, Director-Marketing, Jetta Investment Company.

    Supporters of MTHU’s furnished upon request