>But a $100 million kickback to a developer to add 1500 units is somehow less politically popular than $1 billion dollars for 1200 units. Even assuming this is

>But a $100 million kickback to a developer to add 1500 units is somehow less politically popular than $1 billion dollars for 1200 units. Even assuming this is true, there are plenty of reasons this might be a good deal. One is greater control over construction, alignment of incentives (i.e., the developer incentive is to put up the worst pieces of junk they can get away with), long-term ownership if this is to be a long-term program, etc.