After nearly three years of public hearings and multiple iterations, Union City leaders will wrap up an overall update to the city’s affordable housing ordinance at the conclusion of a public hearing set for Oct. 23, 2018. On paper, the compliance price tag for residential developers of for-sale housing will remain largely unchanged as the city is not increasing the requirements or the in-lieu fee. But in practice, adoption will result in higher development costs for some for-sale projects as the city will no longer accept less expensive options including the innovative profit-sharing partnerships that it has signed in the past. Rental residential developers will be subject to the requirements for the first time, an expansion permitted by a state law that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2018. BIA|Bay Area did successfully argue, however, that both for-sale and rental residential developers should have the by-right option to pay the current $27 per sq. ft. in-lieu fee or provide 15 percent of a project's units as affordable. Developers still have the option to propose alternative means of compliance such as land dedication or preservation of existing affordable units but must attain city approval. If adopted, the ordinance will go into effect on Nov. 22, 2018. For more details, click HERE to view the agenda and staff report. For questions or comments, contact BIA’s Lisa Vorderbrueggen at 925-348-1956 or lvorderbrueggen@biabayarea.org.
