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REDWOOD CITY FAIR AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING ORDINANCE <br /> <br />Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. 18 Tenant Protection Impacts <br />new units constructed for every unit demolished. This reflects a common <br />redevelopment pattern in which lower-density development, often single-family <br />ownership housing, is replaced with higher-density multifamily rental housing, <br />rather than a one-for-one replacement of existing units. <br />Table 8. Redwood City Demolished and Newly Constructed Units (2011 – 2026 YTD) <br /> <br />This trend is reflected in the occupancy mix. Over the past 15 years, 101 <br />ownership units and 22 rental units were demolished, while 869 of the 995 newly <br />constructed units were rental units. The high ratio of new rental units to <br />demolished rental units does not indicate that rental units are replacing rental <br />units. Rather, it reflects the broader redevelopment pattern in which lower- <br />density ownership housing is frequently redeveloped into higher-density <br />multifamily rental projects. <br />This finding is also relevant to Housing Element implementation. Many Housing <br />Element opportunity sites are located on commercial or underutilized <br />nonresidential land and therefore may not involve demolition of existing <br />residential units. However, where redevelopment does involve existing residential <br />properties, the City’s recent pattern suggests that demolition has often been <br />associated with net increases in housing production. Right-to-return obligations <br />could therefore have the greatest feasibility implications for the subset of <br />redevelopment projects that both remove existing rental housing and are not <br />expected to produce substantially more units. <br />A further feasibility issue is the requirement to return at the prior rent could <br />function similarly to rent stabilization for replacement or newly constructed units <br />that would otherwise be exempt from local rent control under Costa-Hawkins. <br />This issue is particularly important where the proposed Ordinance would require <br />a tenant to return at the same rent or would apply prior-rent restrictions to newly <br />constructed rental units after demolition. The potential interaction between the <br />proposed Ordinance’s right-to-return framework, replacement-unit rent <br />restrictions, successor-owner obligations, and Costa-Hawkins may require further <br />legal review. <br />Occupancy Type Demolished Units Newly Constructed <br />Units <br />New-to-Demolished Ratio <br />(2011 - 2026 YTD)1 <br />Ownership 101 126 1.2 x <br />Rental 22 869 39.5 x <br />Total 123 995 8.1 x <br />[1] Ratio compares total demolished and newly constructed units by occupancy type over the study <br />period. It does not represent a direct replacement rate for individual properties. <br />8.A. - Page 77 of 168 <br />87