Concord works on affordable housing from multiple angles

CONCORD, CA (Mar. 15, 2023) — Affordable housing is one of the top concerns and issues facing the state, Bay Area and Contra Costa County cities, including Concord. I thought I would share with you some of the things Concord has been doing to help address this important issue.

Concord has a long history of supporting affordable housing through the construction of multi- family complexes, inspection programs addressing habitability issues, homeowner rehabilitation assistance to preserve the city’s aging housing stock, and programs that assist low-income residents with purchasing a home or maintaining their rental housing.

The city’s affordable housing efforts are targeted to private development projects that provide housing to those families earning between 30% and 120% of the Contra Costa area median income. This income level is set by state law. City-funded assisted affordable housing complexes are monitored to ensure that affordability standards are maintained.

Here are some of the city’s accomplishments:

Released a Notice of Funding Availability in spring 2018. This made available $14 million in city affordable housing funds and allocated $7.8 million to Resources for Community Development for construction of a 62-unit affordable housing development on Galindo Street.

Enacted an Affordable Housing Inclusionary Program for its home ownership projects. In the last five years, the city has collected nearly $2 million in affordable housing in lieu fees, which will support future affordable housing efforts. The city’s Housing Account balance, which includes the in-lieu fees, is currently $7.4 million. These funds will support future affordable housing efforts. Two projects are currently under consideration for these funds.

Approved 1,138 housing units (not yet constructed). Of these, 590 are affordable housing units, primarily multifamily units and most within a short walking distance from BART and downtown Concord. An additional 375 housing units are in the pipeline and seeking approval from the city; at least 64 are affordable housing units. Many of these projects can be viewed on the city’s interactive development map at https://concordgis.ci.concord.ca.us/DevViewer/.

Maintains a list and interactive map of affordable housing complexes. There are 23 apartment complexes that provide 1,796 affordable units. For details, go to https://www.cityofconcord.org/424/Affordable-Housing.

Updating the Housing Element of the General Plan for 2023-2031. This must be submitted to the state. It contains policies and programs for meeting the current and future housing needs of all income levels in a community. The city must demonstrate it can accommodate its housing need of 5,073 housing units – 1,292 will be affordable to extremely low or very low income households; 744 will be affordable to low income households; 847 will be affordable to moderate income households; and 2,190 will be affordable to above moderate income households.

Established plans for the Naval Weapons Station redevelopment. This will include 12,200 housing units, of which 25% are to be affordable, or about 3,050 units.

Negotiating on former Coast Guard property. The federal government sold its 58-acre, former U.S. Coast Guard housing site on Olivera Road for future residential development. The city is negotiating with the new owners about the amount of affordable housing to be included in their project plans. The property needs to be rezoned, among other land use actions.

Direct your questions and comments to the mayor at 925-671-3158 or Laura.Hoffmeister@cityofconcord.org.