California Housing Update – November 2022
Measure C to Repeal Height Limit in Midway District Passes by Narrow Margin (San Diego)
Times of San Diego – November 18, 2022
A city of San Diego ballot measure that would remove the 30-foot coastal height limit for buildings in the Midway District appeared Thursday to have been approved by a narrow margin. With less than 15,000 ballots left to tally in the county from the Nov. 8 election, the measure was ahead by around 9,000 votes, with a margin of 51.1% to 48.9%. It was unclear how many of the still-outstanding ballots are from the city of San Diego. Measure C’s passage would exclude the 1,324-acre Midway-Pacific Highway Community Plan area from the existing 30-foot height limit on buildings, which supporters say will spur housing opportunities and revitalize a run-down neighborhood.
Now tech layoffs are slowing Bay Area housing market as prices fall even more*
San Jose Mercury – November 18
Add tech company layoffs to the list of headwinds facing the Bay Area housing market. Rising mortgage rates, recession fears and a volatile stock market have all tamped down home sales and prices in recent months from record-setting pandemic highs. Now, entering the traditionally slow winter real estate season, growing uncertainty in the region’s leading industry is giving would-be buyers another reason for pause. “We have clients who have been in and out of looking at buying,” said Silicon Valley realtor Mary Pope-Handy. “One of them works at … Facebook, and they said. ‘I didn’t get laid off, but it doesn’t look like a good time to make a big purchase.’”
Rent slowdown likely for Southern California apartments, USC forecast says*
The Orange County Register – November 11
Whiplashed tenants who’ve seen rents soar by double digits may get some relief in the next two years in the form of smaller rent hikes. But what lies ahead is anyone’s guess as economic uncertainties cloud the outlook, a top University of Southern California forecaster says. Inflation, rising interest rates and changing migration patterns make it hard to predict the future, USC’s Casden Multifamily Forecast the Casden report said. The report, released Thursday, Nov. 10, predicts smaller rent hikes and higher vacancy rates through the summer of 2024. That’s good news for tenants who saw lease rates for vacant apartments rise by as much as 18% over the past year and a half.
A Public Building That Can Decarbonize Santa Rosa’s Electric Grid
Next City – November 1
Two years ago, the energy company Sonoma Clean Power set out to renovate a 1979 structure in Santa Rosa, California, for its new headquarters. The building had long been powered by natural gas. The vision for the final product was radically different — a test case to accelerate the decarbonization of the electrical power grid. The New Buildings Institute and U.S. Green Building Council have partnered on the GridOptimal Buildings Initiative, which develops strategies to better integrate buildings into sustainable utility grid management and move away from dependence on fossil fuels, with the emphasis that buildings play a crucial role. Sonoma Clean Power’s Santa Rosa headquarters is the first completed pilot, with the hope of inspiring replication.
Los Angeles leads nation in apartment conversions
The Real Deal – November 15
Los Angeles has led the nation this year in apartment conversions, setting a record for adaptive reuse of other types of buildings, Rentcafe reported, citing data from sister company Yardi Matrix. Amid an ever-growing need for housing, adaptive reuse picked up speed in the nation’s largest cities, according to Yardi Matrix, which ranked Los Angeles as the national leader with 1,242 unit conversions from January through June. Los Angeles also leads in pending conversions, with 4,130 apartments either expected to soon be opened or in the project pipeline.
Marin County mandates all-electrical new residential and commercial construction*
The Mercury News – November 16
Beginning in 2023, all new residential and commercial construction in Marin must be all electric. Marin County supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve an ordinance mandating the change effective Jan. 1. The supervisors voiced support for the move in October. The ordinance also includes provisions designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the use of natural gas. These include tougher energy efficiency requirements for additions, alterations, and remodels, and increased access to electric vehicle charging stations for people living in multifamily housing.
Competing measures to speed up S.F. housing construction both fail*
The San Francisco Chronicle – November 15
Proposition D and Proposition E, two ballot measures aiming to speed up housing construction in San Francisco, where residential projects can take years to plan and develop, both fell short as voters struggled to reconcile the competing proposals. Both propositions would have quickened the development process for various types of real estate projects, with the goal of helping San Francisco build the housing it sorely needs. San Francisco must build about 82,000 housing units by 2030 or it could lose state funding.
Biden Administration approves $250 million for energy efficiency upgrades in homes and businesses
The Hill – November 15
The Biden administration announced that it will allocate $250 million in formula funding for energy efficiency upgrades and retrofits of commercial and residential buildings. The U.S. Department of Energy will be accepting applications for these resources through an initiative of the recent bipartisan infrastructure law. States and territories will be able to use grants to establish what is known as “revolving loan funds” — or pools of capital from which loans can be made for clean energy projects, according to the Energy Department. Governments can then use these revolving loan funds to invest in energy audits, energy efficiency upgrades, and retrofits of residential and commercial buildings.
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