Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) signed historic legislation Wednesday that will allow builders to turn vacant retail property into millions of new homes, bypassing much of the red tape that paralyzes California’s ability to solve its housing crisis.
A pair of bills from the Senate and Assembly will allow union-labor construction on land zoned for retail, office, or parking, mostly without approval from the cities or a state environmental review board. More than 2 million homes could be built, many reserved for low-income families, according to Newsom’s website.
The projects will help combat the blight that has spread across California as 300 large corporations have moved out of state along with innumerable small businesses. Families who can’t afford million-dollar homes in middle-class areas are fleeing too as the cost of living skyrockets in one of the nation’s priciest states.
“Stores are leaving permanently — the Sears, the Toys R Us, the JC Penneys, the Kmarts — they are closing,” said state Sen. Anna Caballero (D), who wrote one of the bills. “There is not a thing that is going to take the place here commercially, and so the ability to actually transform the property and to do it in an expedited way … is invaluable.”
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Newsom also announced $1.02 billion in funding for 2,755 housing units throughout the state. Together with a previous grant, 5,000 units will be produced primarily for extremely low- to very low-income neighborhoods.
The target population for these homes is veterans, seniors, the homeless, and essential workers, among others.
State officials say California needs 310,000 new homes over the next eight years to house its population. Every year, dozens of bills are introduced but derailed due to competing interests from unions, local governments, and environmental groups.
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“This is a moment on a journey to reconcile the original sin of the state of California, and that’s the issue of housing and affordability,” Newsom said. “We need to all be a little bit more accountable to this crisis of affordability.”
