How Can California Rein in Skyrocketing Cost of Building Affordable Housing

KQED's Forum

KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 28 June 2022

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A recent Los Angeles Times report examined seven affordable housing projects in Northern California in which the cost of development surpassed $1 million per unit. Part of the reason for the exorbitant cost of building is skyrocketing construction prices with rising material and labor costs exacerbated by the pandemic and supply chain shortages. But, as the L.A. Times points out, local and state requirements add a sizable amount to the total expense. For nonprofit developers who build subsidized housing, that means fewer units for more money. As California looks for ways to alleviate the housing crisis, we discuss why affordable housing is becoming more unaffordable and strategies to bring down the price tag. Guests: Liam Dillon, statewide housing affordability and neighborhood change reporter, Los Angeles Times Heather Hood, vice president, Northern California, Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. Tim Grayson, California State assembly member, district 14 (encompasses portions of Contra Costa and Solano Counties) Ben Metcalf, managing director, Terner Center of Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley; former director, California Department of Housing and Community Development Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:43.1	From KQED.
0:59.8	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:02.9	We all know there's not enough affordable housing in the Bay Area.
1:05.4	Just about everyone agrees that more needs to be built.
1:09.4	And yet very few units are coming online anywhere in Northern California.
1:12.6	One reason is that costs continue to skyrocket. According to a new LA Times investigation, there are seven affordable housing projects in our region
1:17.6	where the cost per unit has reached over $1 million.
1:20.6	Think about what that means.
1:22.6	For every $1 billion we spend on affordable housing, we only create a thousand units. And we need tens of
1:29.0	thousands of affordable housing units to even make a dent in the housing crisis. We'll break down
1:33.8	what's led to the cost explosion and what can be done about it after this news. From KQD in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
	...

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