The Union City Council has formalized its innovative option under which developers may satisfy the city’s 15 percent affordable housing requirement through a profit-sharing agreement. Rather than build the units on-site, applicants may agree to pay the city half of the sales profits on the requisite number of affordable units. But after considering testimony from BIA|Bay Area, the council clarified that it retains the ability to negotiate the final details including the staff recommended per-unit fee minimum of $160,000. BIA argued that a flat fee will discourage production of higher density multi-family homes and will disproportionately burden less expensive homes.
Click here to read BIA’s letter to the Union City Council for its meeting of March 22, 2016.
Click here to view the Union City staff report. However, city staff also indicated that the profit-sharing option is an interim program that will be re-evaluated in the fall when Union City completes its affordable housing impact fee nexus study.
