October 2024

Rojelio, an agricultural worker in Farmersville, lives at the Los Arroyos affordable housing community. Hear from Rojelio, who is thriving in his new home.

Los Arroyos was supported by HCD’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities, the Infill Infrastructure Grant, the Permanent Local Housing Allocation, and the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant programs.

HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez joined the City of Los Angeles in celebrating the grand opening of Lake House, a new permanent supportive housing development in the Westlake neighborhood. 

Lake House is a 100 percent affordable community for people who are experiencing homelessness, are chronically homeless, or are at risk of homelessness. The project includes 62 homes for individuals and families earning at or below 30 percent of the Area Median Income, including 31 homes reserved for people living with severe mental illness. Lake House is supported by $7 million from HCD’s No Place Like Home program. 

“We are thrilled that funding from HCD’s No Place Like Home Program could help make possible permanent supportive housing for some of L.A.’s lowest-income residents at Lake House,” Director Velasquez commented. “The program will give residents with mental health challenges on-site access to service providers who can help them maintain housing stability, a model HCD looks forward to expanding statewide thanks to voter approval of Proposition 1.” 

Lake House was developed by Community Development Partners and Mercy House and includes a rooftop deck, community spaces, bicycle storage, and a courtyard. The Center in Hollywood has been contracted to provide on-site supportive services for residents.

Hear from single mom Nicole, a resident of affordable housing community Los Arroyos in Farmersville. Los Arroyos was supported by HCD’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities, the Infill Infrastructure Grant, the Permanent Local Housing Allocation, and the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant programs.

A new transit-oriented affordable housing development recently opened near the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland. Casa Sueños, formerly a city-owned BART parking lot, provides 181 affordable homes for families earning 20-80 percent of the Area Median Income. Forty-six of those homes are set aside as permanent supportive housing for those who have experienced chronic homelessness. 

Casa Sueños was developed in partnership by BRIDGE Housing and The Unity Council. HCD provided over $37 million in project funding for this development, utilizing both the Transit-Oriented Development Housing program and the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program, which is jointly administered by HCD and the California Strategic Growth Council. 

The project includes a multi-purpose room, a community room with kitchen, laundry rooms, a courtyard with play equipment, bicycle storage, and an underground garage with EV charging stations. Developers also incorporated 7,500 square feet of affordable commercial space into the project. This space is managed by Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice. 

Residents of Casa Sueños will receive family and youth services from The Unity Council, with permanent supportive services provided by Lifelong Medical Care and funded by Alameda County.

Governor Gavin Newsom today announced nearly $130.7 million in Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF) program grants to help 18 cities, counties, and Continuums of Care (CoCs) resolve critical encampment concerns and address the housing and health and safety needs of 3,364 people living in encampments, and permanently house 1,565 people.

“We’re supporting local communities’ efforts to get people out of encampments and connected with care and housing across the state. It’s important and urgent work that requires everyone to do their part. The state has committed more than $27 billion to help local governments tackle the homelessness crisis — and we want to see $27 billion worth of results,” said Governor Newsom.

According to the Governor’s Executive Order N-1-24, 123,000 people in California experienced unsheltered homelessness on any given night in 2023, living The ERF program supports implementation of the Executive Order, which directs state agencies to address encampments in the state with urgency and with dignity for those living in encampments. It is a competitive grant program for which awardees must demonstrate a clear connection to permanent housing solutions. Projects must be person-centered and tailored to address the needs of the specific individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness and living in encampments. 

"These grants will ensure local communities take a person-centered, trauma-informed approach as they help their most vulnerable residents transition to safe and stable housing,” said Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Tomiquia Moss. “The Encampment Resolution Fund grants are infusing critical resources in communities up and down California so that unhoused Californians can access the essential housing and supportive services they need to achieve long-term stability.”

“Our team is energized by this opportunity to help bring people-centered, Housing First solutions to Californians who are unsheltered throughout the state,” said Gustavo Velasquez, Director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), which has administered ERF since the start of the 2024-25 fiscal year. “Combined with the investments in permanent supportive housing made possible by voter approval of Proposition 1, the state has unprecedented momentum to make monumental progress on a crisis of homelessness that has been growing for decades.”

To date, ERF has invested $736,789,510.95 in 109 projects or encampments across 21 counties, 41 cities, and 5 CoCs to help 20,888 people transition out of homelessness. The awards announced today utilize all remaining FY 2023-24 ERF funds. An additional appropriation of $150 million in the FY 2024-25 State Budget allowed HCD to award all eligible ERF Round 3, Window 2 applicants. The budget also included $100 million in ERF funds for FY 2025-26, bringing to $1 billion this investment to address encampments through proven housing solutions. 

The awards announced today will provide stable, safe housing for individuals living in encampments in their respective communities. The awarded proposals will assist individuals living in encampments with compassion and dignity by providing a range of housing solutions: permanent housing; interim housing for individuals seeking coordinated entry system resources or housing vouchers; housing navigation services and rapid rehousing subsidies; support for accessing permanent housing by providing security deposits and other moving expenses; and allowing awardees to acquire property for housing. 

Below are the 12 cities, four counties, and two CoCs awarded:

• City of Antioch - $6,812,686
• City of Berkeley - $5,395,637
• City of Carlsbad - $2,994,225
• City of Los Angeles (total for two ERF awards) - $11,351,281
• City of Palm Springs - $5,106,731
• City of Petaluma - $8,098,978
• City of Redlands - $5,341,800
• City of Richmond - $9,336,746
• City of Sacramento (total for two ERF awards) - $18,199,661
• City of San Jose - $4,821,083
• City of Victorville - $6,365,070
• City of Visalia - $3,000,000
• County of Contra Costa - $5,708,516
• County of Riverside - $12,612,779
• County of San Bernardino - $11,000,000
• City and County of San Francisco - $7,975,486
• Humboldt County CoC - $3,784,294
• Pasadena CoC - $2,772,801

For a detailed list of awards from ERF Round 3, Window 2.

What you need to know: The state is decertifying the City of Norwalk’s housing element following the city’s action breaking state housing law and implementing an illegal shelter ban. The state’s action makes the city ineligible for significant housing and homelessness funding and means the city can no longer deny “builder’s remedy” affordable housing projects.

SACRAMENTO — Today Governor Gavin Newsom announced the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) has revoked the city’s compliance with housing element law. The Governor’s announcement follows through on his warning to Norwalk, taking swift action to hold the city accountable for its unlawful ban on homeless shelters and other housing.

Without a compliant housing element, the city can no longer deny certain affordable housing projects and is no longer eligible to receive key state housing and homelessness funds. Governor Newsom has also announced that the state may sue the city if they refuse to change course.

"After the state has provided cities and counties with unprecedented funding to address the homelessness crisis, it's beyond cruel that Norwalk would ban the building of shelters while people are living on the city's streets. This crisis is urgent, and we can't afford to stand by as communities turn their backs on those in need. No more excuses—every city, including Norwalk, must do its part and follow state housing laws," said Governor Newsom.

Norwalk’s failure to build housing

Creating more housing is key to addressing affordability and homelessness in California. All cities are required by state law to develop a housing plan to ensure that they are planning for enough affordable housing for their community. Norwalk has failed to meet its housing goals, and now has violated state law by banning shelter and other housing for those experiencing and at risk of homelessness despite its failure to build enough housing. The city has only issued permits for 175 units during this housing element cycle, a mere 3.5% of its 5,034 assigned Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA), or the number of units required to ensure its community has enough housing.

The action by HCD to revoke Norwalk’s housing element compliance will speed up development in the community and incentivize the city to end its unlawful ban on housing so that residents have the housing they need.

“The City of Norwalk’s actions have placed them in violation of state housing law, and therefore their housing element is no longer in compliance,” said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez. “Our Housing Accountability Unit provided the city clear guidance—with full transparency on what our next steps would be if they did not repeal this egregious ordinance. Instead of working to correct their missteps, they dug in their heels and are now ineligible for key funding and subject to the builder’s remedy.”

Norwalk’s failure to address homelessness

Norwalk has taken overt actions to block access to homeless support, shelter, and housing - despite having accepted nearly $29 million in state housing and homelessness funds. On August 6, the city adopted a 45-day urgency ordinance imposing a moratorium on emergency shelters, single-room occupancy housing, supportive housing, and transitional housing.

The state issued a Notice of Violation on September 16. On September 17, the council voted to extend the ordinance another 10 months and 15 days. Even after the state granted the city an extension to respond to its Notice of Violation, Norwalk failed to repeal the ordinance or put into place any action that would set the repeal in motion. Although city council members expressed an intent not to immediately enforce the moratorium, there is no formal stay or anything that would prevent the city from enforcing the moratorium as soon as it wishes, and the city has refused to commit to repealing it in the near future.

The moratorium violates several state planning and fair housing laws, including the Housing Crisis Act, the Anti-Discrimination in Land Use Law, Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, and the Housing Element Law.

More housing. More accountability.

Since taking office, Governor Newsom has provided local communities with unprecedented funding, investing over $40 billion to boost housing and more than $27 billion to address homelessness. Norwalk issued the ordinance only weeks after Governor Newsom issued an executive order that, among other things, urges local governments to use this funding provided by the state to address unsanitary and dangerous encampments within their communities and provide people experiencing homelessness in the encampments with the care, housing, and supportive services they need.

The notice was issued by HCD’s Housing Accountability Unit, which was launched by Governor Newsom in 2021 to ensure that cities and counties fulfill legal responsibilities to plan for and permit their fair share of housing, and to hold accountable those that fail to do so. This focus on accountability has in part led to a 15-year high in housing starts in California. Since its establishment, the unit has supported the development of more than 7,500 housing units, including more than 2,700 affordable housing units, through enforcement actions and by working with local jurisdictions to ensure compliance with housing law. In 2024, the unit was expanded to include a focus on homelessness issues - including compliance with state laws as they relate to homeless housing. The action against Norwalk is its first homelessness accountability action since its expansion.

What you need to know: Governor Newsom today announced a new project in San Francisco that will transform a dated Department of Motor Vehicles building into a modern DMV office with 372 new homes, including homes dedicated to low-income families. The site was identified as part of the Governor’s executive order directing agencies to identify state properties that could be used to create affordable housing for Californians.

SAN FRANCISCO — Continuing California’s commitment to build more affordable housing across the state, Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the redevelopment of an existing San Francisco DMV Field Office site into a multi-use transit-friendly complex with affordable housing and a new DMV Field Office. The current DMV site was constructed in 1960 and does not comply with updated health and safety code specifications, nor does it meet DMV requirements.

After this transformation, the complex is expected to include approximately 372 homes with a range of affordability levels located in the city center near amenities and transportation.

“We will continue to use all our tools to create more affordable housing throughout California — including by converting underutilized state property into homes. I’m particularly proud of this site for bringing affordable housing to the heart of San Francisco in a diverse and thriving neighborhood,” said Governor Newsom.

The state-owned property is centrally located between the Lower Haight, NoPa, Buena Vista, and Alamo Square neighborhoods, and in proximity to a mixture of residential, entertainment, and visitor-serving amenities including the Haight-Ashbury and Divisadero retail districts. The site is in an EPA-designated Highly Walkable area and within half a mile of a Major Transit Stop.

"This first of its kind project, combining housing with a new DMV Field Office, represents a significant step forward in the state's efforts to reimagine spaces for affordable housing," said DGS Director Ana M. Lasso. "DGS is pleased to take part in this mixed-use development project that will deliver a modern new DMV office while providing hundreds of affordable housing units to support San Franciscans.

The Department of General Services (DGS), Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), and Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) have selected The Related Companies of California and Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation to lead redevelopment.

“This is a unique opportunity to transform and modernize a public-facing government facility while adding new, permanent affordable housing in a region with critical need,” said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez. “I am hopeful this project can inform similar out-of-the-box thinking for communities statewide on how we can maximize use of public land for the benefit of the people.”

How we got here

In 2019, Governor Newsom issued an executive order calling on the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and the Department of General Services (DGS) to address the state’s affordable housing crisis by identifying underutilized state-owned sites for the development of affordable housing, taking into account factors such as proximity to job centers, amenities, and public transit.

Creating affordable housing for all Californians

• Since taking office, Governor Newsom has invested $40 billion in housing production and enacted dozens of CEQA reforms into law. The state has also invested more than $27 billion to help communities address homelessness.
• In July 2024, Governor Newsom issued an executive order to support efforts to transform undeveloped and underutilized infill sites and buildings into housing. This order helps communities build thriving downtown cores and new housing near transportation hubs and job centers — creating more housing options for Californians while further aligning the state’s housing and climate goals.
• In addition, Governor Newsom championed the creation of the Housing Accountability Unit at HCD to ensure cities and counties fulfill their legal responsibilities to plan and permit their fair share of housing.

HCD is launching the first episode of “HCD In Focus”, a monthly news in review to highlight the impact of HCD-administered programs on the lives of Californians. We will be exploring the results of the investment of funds on housing affordability, homelessness and community development – all priorities of HCD and Governor Gavin Newsom.

This month’s highlights: Homekey program supports 15,000 new homes and Governor Newsom signs bipartisan housing package while focusing on holding local jurisdictions accountable to state housing law and bringing about results from the influx of state funding. Hear from Veteran Babs and members of the HCD Team working to make a difference.