Laserfiche WebLink
Page 4 of 12 <br />City of Redwood City 1017 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA. 94063 Tel: 650-780-7000 www.redwoodcity.org <br />Affordable Housing Incentive Program <br />To help residential development projects move forward, it is recommended that the AHO requirements <br />for residential developments (including residential components of mixed-use projects) be temporarily <br />reduced by 25%.1 The program would apply to any project that obtains project entitlements by June 30, <br />2026, applies for the Affordable Housing Incentive Program, and obtains building permits for the vertical <br />construction of the residential development by June 30, 2027. Staff is not recommending that Gatekeeper <br />projects or projects regulated by a development agreement be eligible for the incentive program, because <br />those types of projects have already gone through a separate process in which they were required to <br />demonstrate a certain level of community benefits in exchange for enhanced development rights. <br />Small residential developments (5-19 units) that are required to pay a housing impact fee would also be <br />eligible for a 25% housing impact fee reduction via application for the Affordable Housing Incentive <br />Program, so long as building permits for vertical construction are pulled by June 30, 2027.2 The proposed <br />prorated onsite reductions are as follows: <br />Table 1: <br />Current AHO Requirement Compared to 25% Reduced Requirement <br />Project Category Current <br />Requirement <br />Proposed 25% <br />Reduced <br />Requirement3 <br />Rental Projects <br /> Moderate 10%7.50% <br /> Low 5%3.75% <br /> Very Low 5%3.75% <br />Total Affordable 20%15% <br />Ownership Projects <br /> Moderate 15%11.25% <br />Projects that received any State Density Bonus benefits (e.g., density bonus, concessions, waivers and/or <br />parking reductions) would still need to meet the minimum affordability requirements imposed under <br />state law to maintain those State Density Bonus benefits. This means some projects may not qualify for <br />the full 25% reduction or for a reduction at all. <br />If adopted, eligible projects under the Affordable Housing Incentive Program will be required to pay <br />adjusted impact fees (e.g., park and transportation fees) based on the reduced number of affordable units <br />1 Note that the Affordable Housing Incentive Program’s ordinance has a sunset date of June 30, 2027. Pipeline <br />Projects that fail to obtain a vertical building permit (meaning permits for the foundation and/or core/shell, including <br />grading permits but excluding demolition permits) for the residential development by June 30, 2027, shall <br />automatically revert back to the affordable housing requirements applicable to the project prior to the adoption of <br />the Affordable Housing Incentive Program. <br />2 The temporarily reduced fees would be $18.75 per square foot of new residential floor area for single-family <br />detached homes, townhomes, duplexes and triplexes and $15 per square foot of new residential floor area for <br />apartments and condominiums. <br />3 Alternative affordability levels and percentages are allowed so long as the proposal meets the equivalent of the <br />affordability levels and percentages listed above (i.e., 15% for rental and 11.25% for ownership) using the City’s <br />equivalency requirements in the Affordable Housing Guidelines. <br />10.A. - Page 4 of 31 <br />213