To create pro-housing change we need bold pro-housing leaders who are committed to solving our state’s severe housing shortage, affordability, and displacement crisis.

To that end, here are the pro-housing candidates in critical local and state races HAC is proud to endorse for the March 5 election.

The 2023 legislative session in Sacramento was a landmark moment for pro-housing advocates. From reforming CEQA to addressing the post-entitlement process, California legislators passed a number of significant housing bills that will undoubtedly help accelerate housing production across our state.

In June of 2023 the San José City Council moved to adopt their housing element prior to state certification from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). HAC, alongside our coalition partners, firmly advocated against the city’s decision. However, San José’s staff felt confident that the housing plan they drafted met the state’s requirements and would be certified by HCD; if revisions were needed, they would be minor. Yet on August 28th, HCD sent the city a 9-page rejection letter, highlighting a number of issues with the housing element draft they sent.

With the overwhelming success of the latest legislative session, getting multifamily housing entitled and permitted will soon be faster and easier than ever. HAC is proud to be one of the driving forces behind these recent wins as our ongoing efforts to collaborate with state and local elected officials to break down critical barriers to housing production are starting to pay off.

Updates to project agreements + councilmember activity.

In our recent Regulatory Committee meeting, Judson True and Matt Gelfand offered insightful presentations on accelerating housing development and illuminating discussions on Builder’s Remedy lawsuits in La Canada Flintridge , respectively. Below we delve into the valuable takeaways from these discussions.

California homebuilders have a reason for optimism. In July, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) signed an MOU with the California Building Industry Association (CBIA) to make a series of process improvements to help housing projects get completed faster. The MOU comes after homebuilders across the state expressed their growing frustration with PG&E’s failure to efficiently connect their housing projects to the power grid. 

As the California Legislative Session concludes today, it’s safe to say that pro-housing advocates came out on top. 

In terms of the bills HAC sponsored this session, all three have been approved by the Legislature and now await Governor Newsom’s signature.

For HAC, the year 2031 is significant. As Northern California enters a new RHNA cycle, the question at the top of our minds is, in eight years, will cities, towns, and counties across the state meet their state-mandated housing goals? It’s more than fair to ask the question because for decades Housing Elements have been more of an idealistic dream than a realistic expectation. Every eight years the state would “mandate” cities to increase their housing supply, and every eight years a majority of California cities would build only a fraction of the number of homes the state expected them to build.  The state did nothing in response. 

In the past few months, one of the challenges HAC has been working to address is financial feasibility. If you’re a Bay Area homebuilder, you know that since the pandemic, multifamily housing construction and feasibility haven’t exactly gone hand in hand. With recent hikes in interest rates, skyrocketing construction costs, and exorbitant impact fees, projects haven’t been able to receive financing because they simply don’t pencil out.

Fehr & Peers’ Principal Matt Goyne and Transportation Engineer Nina Price presented about the intersection of transportation, housing, and the climate crisis. Their presentation focused on how higher density housing goes hand-in-hand with more public transportation access, less parking, and less vehicle miles traveled (VMT).

This month, HAC hosted our quarterly Members Only Breakfast Briefing, where Executive Director Corey Smith shared an overview of the organization’s progress and priorities. Throughout the year, HAC has been active with multiple pieces of legislation making its way through Sacramento. HAC Sponsored Bills Assembly Bill 281 (permit review timelines), Assembly Bill 1114 (ministerial building permits), and Assembly Bill 1485 (clarifying AG’s ability to intervene in housing lawsuits) are all still alive and we expect them to be signed into law. On the other hand, HAC sponsored bills Senate Bill 83 (timelines for utilities), Assembly Bill 990 (streamlining protections), and Assembly Bill 1630 (ministerial approval + density bonus for off-campus student housing) did not proceed this session.

The Housing Action Coalition is continuing to work with the Mayor’s office, other city leaders and allied advocacy groups as San Francisco works to implement its Housing Element. Last week, in a 10-1 vote, the Board of Supervisors passed two pieces of legislation that deferred and reduced inclusionary requirements and impact fees. The legislation came after the City’s Technical Advisory Committee met for months in an effort to determine an economically feasible inclusionary rate. While HAC pushed for 100% of all fees to be waived as means to help projects ‘pencil’, we understand the political reality. The reduction in fees, according to the feasibility analysis done by HAC member Century Urban, will not be enough to get entitled projects moving. Therefore, the City of SF must continue to explore creative ways to reduce the timeline and cost of construction for new housing.

Housing elements are no longer just a paper exercise. The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) has made it clear that in order to meet the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) cities need to do more than just plan to build, they also need create the zoning and financial feasibility conditions that will help the Bay Area reach its ambitious housing goals.

In California, students are one of the demographics most affected by the state’s housing shortage and affordability crisis. This is especially true for San Francisco-based students as they must grapple with living in one of the country’s most expensive and inaccessible housing markets.

The past couple of years have been rough for public transit in the Bay Area. With the pandemic decimating ridership, transit agencies across the region have seen a severe decrease in the revenue they generate through fares. BART for example, which is heavily fare-dependent, saw its ridership drop by 90% to 95% during the pandemic. As a result, many of these agencies are on the brink of a potentially disastrous fiscal cliff.

Kate Hartley joined the HAC Regulatory Committee to discuss the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority’s (BAHFA) projects, progress and future plans. Established in 2019, BAHFA is a regional authority governed by the Association of Bay Area Government’s (ABAG) executive board. Kate provided insights and status updates on BAHFA’s most well-known project: the Regional Housing Bond Ballot Measure, which will be on the November 2024 ballot.

Ari Baranian, CEO of Pirros, joined the committee to discuss his company’s efforts to design a Detail Management System for Architects and Engineers that makes managing projects easier. Through this centralizing software, Pirros has saved 2 weeks of individual employee time per year, helping to lower costs and improve work efficiency.

With the theme of Innovation in Housing, our 17th Annual Spring Symposium featured conversations with housing experts from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors exploring new solutions to our region and state’s longstanding housing shortage and affordability challenges.

On May 31st, Carli Paine, BART’s TOD Manager, presented on BART’s land use plans, including updates on a variety of specific projects, including those at the North Berkeley, Ashby, and El Cerrito Plaza stations.