The Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act - Assembly Bill (AB) 2011
The Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act - Assembly Bill (AB) 2011
On September 28th, 2023 Governor Gavin Newsome signed Assembly Bill (AB) 2011 which provides time-limited ministerial approval process for multifamily housing developments on commercially zoned property. A big aspect of AB 2011 is that it allows for parcels under 20 acres that are currently zoned for parking, retail, or office buildings to be developed for housing. Included in this bill is that qualifying developments will be exempt from compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), this aspect is intended to make it easier to meet expedited timelines for approval. An important detail of this bill is that these projects are also permitted in the Coastal Zone which has previously been one of the most difficult areas to develop.
This bill requires that projects must pay prevailing wages to construction workers and must meet specified Below Market Rate (BMR) affordable housing targets in order to qualify. To employ this law there are two options, one is 100% BMR projects and second is mixed income projects containing at least 15% BMR units that are located on commercial corridors that are wide enough to accommodate increased density and transit. To ensure that residents are connected to existing transit and infrastructure, reduce sprawl, and to limit greenhouse gas emissions all developments must be occurring within infill areas.
“AB 2011 is a breakthrough in the affordable housing landscape,” said Abram Diaz, policy director of the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California (NPH). “It unlocks over 100,000 acres to build homes for California’s working families and does so while advancing our ambitious climate agenda and supporting workers. With this bill, we’re turning commercial blight into communities and the housing crisis into opportunity. This is just the beginning of a strong partnership to advance housing solutions – on the ground, at the job site, in the Capitol, and beyond.”
