• Two CHC-sponsored bills, AB 2011 (Wicks) and AB 2006 (Berman), advanced out of the Senate Housing Committee this week, 6-1 and 8-0 respectively. AB 2006 (Berman), a bill that aims streamline the state’s compliance monitoring system, was placed on the Consent Calendar with members recommending it be moved there.

• Asm. Wicks and CHC’s Marina Wiant joined a large rally hosted by the California Conference of Carpenters ahead of the hearing in support of AB 2011, the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act. Dozens of groups testified in support of the bill, including a wide range of labor, environmental, and affordable housing advocates. The bill will be heard next by the Senate Governance and Finance Committee on June 29, along with AB 2334 (Wicks), a CHC-sponsored bill seeking to increase the number of sites qualifying for expanded Density Bonuses available to 100% affordable projects. AB 2334 (Wicks) passed out of the Senate Housing Committee 8-1.

• Published at a relevant time, the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board offered their full-throated support this week for AB 2011, saying “California needs more housing and good jobs. There’s a bill to create both.” “If you care about solving the housing crisis and want California lawmakers to put the interests of the whole state over the demands of the few,” the Times wrote, “then keep your eye on [AB 2011].” After years of political gridlock in the Legislature, the editorial says Asm. Wicks’s legislation offers a unique opportunity to take on two of the state’s most challenging problems: “California can encourage the development of a lot more homes in commercial centers that are often more walkable and near transit and avoid some of the complaints about densifying single-family neighborhoods. And the state can help create a lot more construction jobs with good pay, working conditions and benefits.” The editorial’s advice for lawmakers considering the bill? “Take the win-win and pass AB 2011.”

ICYMI – Top news stories: Affordable housing in California now routinely tops $1 million per apartment to buildLos Angeles TimesMore than half a dozen affordable housing projects in California are costing more than $1 million per apartment to build, a record-breaking sum that makes it harder to house the growing numbers of low-income Californians who need help paying rent, a Times review of state data found. The seven subsidized housing developments, all in Northern California, received state funding within the last two years and are under construction or close to breaking ground. When completed, they will provide homes for more than 600 families. But their exorbitant price tags mean that taxpayers are subsidizing fewer apartments than they otherwise could while waiting lists of renters needing affordable housing continue to grow.
One affordable home in S.F. costs $750,000 to build. This developer has a plan to do it for $350K—with no public money.San Francisco ChronicleBuilder Joey Toboni was swimming in the bay a few years ago when he looked back at Aquatic Park and took in the scene. Among the walkers and joggers he noticed a class field trip led by a few teachers. There was a home health care aide pushing an elderly woman in a wheelchair and a crew of National Park Service workers doing landscape work. He thought about the wide range of jobs that it takes to make a city function—and the wide gap between what those jobs pay and what it costs to live in the city. “It dawned on me that none of these folks had a path to stay in San Francisco,” he said: “I realized there was nothing preventing me from being audacious and trying to tackle that problem. I went home that night and started writing a business plan.”
Large affordable apartment complex coming to this expensive Placer County suburbSacramento BeeOne of the Sacramento region’s most sought-after suburbs is getting a large affordable housing apartment complex, filling a void in a community with some of the area’s highest housing prices. USA Properties has started construction on a 288-unit project between University Avenue and Wildcat Boulevard in Rocklin. The apartment building will have one-, two- and three-bedroom units reserved for residents who earn between 30% and 70% of the Placer County median income. That comes out to about $21,750 to $50,750 for two-person households, according to a news release. “I’m hopeful that many young people who have grown up in town will have a chance to remain here with housing opportunities like Terracina,” Rocklin Mayor Bill Halldin said in a statement.

ICYMI – Top news stories: Affordable housing in California now routinely tops $1 million per apartment to build
Los Angeles Times
More than half a dozen affordable housing projects in California are costing more than $1 million per apartment to build, a record-breaking sum that makes it harder to house the growing numbers of low-income Californians who need help paying rent, a Times review of state data found. The seven subsidized housing developments, all in Northern California, received state funding within the last two years and are under construction or close to breaking ground. When completed, they will provide homes for more than 600 families. But their exorbitant price tags mean that taxpayers are subsidizing fewer apartments than they otherwise could while waiting lists of renters needing affordable housing continue to grow.

One affordable home in S.F. costs $750,000 to build. This developer has a plan to do it for $350K—with no public money.
San Francisco Chronicle
Builder Joey Toboni was swimming in the bay a few years ago when he looked back at Aquatic Park and took in the scene. Among the walkers and joggers he noticed a class field trip led by a few teachers. There was a home health care aide pushing an elderly woman in a wheelchair and a crew of National Park Service workers doing landscape work. He thought about the wide range of jobs that it takes to make a city function—and the wide gap between what those jobs pay and what it costs to live in the city. “It dawned on me that none of these folks had a path to stay in San Francisco,” he said: “I realized there was nothing preventing me from being audacious and trying to tackle that problem. I went home that night and started writing a business plan.”

Large affordable apartment complex coming to this expensive Placer County suburb
Sacramento Bee
One of the Sacramento region’s most sought-after suburbs is getting a large affordable housing apartment complex, filling a void in a community with some of the area’s highest housing prices. USA Properties has started construction on a 288-unit project between University Avenue and Wildcat Boulevard in Rocklin. The apartment building will have one-, two- and three-bedroom units reserved for residents who earn between 30% and 70% of the Placer County median income. That comes out to about $21,750 to $50,750 for two-person households, according to a news release. “I’m hopeful that many young people who have grown up in town will have a chance to remain here with housing opportunities like Terracina,” Rocklin Mayor Bill Halldin said in a statement.