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What you need to know: Governor Newsom today awarded $94 million to 15 California counties to support the development of more than 1,661 new homes through infill development projects. The Governor also issued a new executive order to accelerate and streamline infill development projects to transform undeveloped and underutilized properties statewide into livable and affordable housing for Californians.
July 31, 2024 - SACRAMENTO — Governor Gavin Newsom today announced awards totaling nearly $94 million to create infill development that will produce 1,661 new homes in 15 counties throughout California. Governor Newsom also issued an executive order to support efforts to transform undeveloped and underutilized infill sites and buildings into housing. The order will help communities build thriving downtown cores, and new housing near transportation hubs and job centers — creating more housing options for Californians while further aligning the state’s housing and climate goals.
Empty lots and vacant buildings in cities throughout our state could be transformed into much-needed housing; Californians literally cannot afford for us to ignore these opportunities.
Today I’m providing tens of millions of dollars to California communities to begin building these new homes on infill properties. And I’m directing agencies to begin an all-hands-on-deck effort to help create homes on properties that have been sitting empty and unused for far too long. We’re cutting the unnecessary red tape and costs standing in the way of building new affordable homes for Californians.
Governor Gavin Newsom
State support for infill housing projects
The Governor’s order helps advance California’s goal to create 2.5 million new homes by 2030. In an effort to make housing more accessible and affordable for all, California continues to build more housing, of all types, all across the state.
Governor Newsom’s order directs a number of state agencies, including the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), and the California Air Resources Board (CARB), among others, to work together to address key roadblocks in the development of infill housing. These agencies will work to comprehensively address the need to develop more housing by:
- Lowering costs and increasing flexibility by exploring updates to the state building standards codes and permitting processes to accelerate housing approvals and development.
- Creating more resources for local governments to build housing through infill development, by developing mechanisms to provide local governments and developers with a range of additional resources, including state and federal infrastructure dollars and other financing.
- Building more tools and opportunities by publishing resources and guidance, including through the states’ existing Site Check website, to assist developers and other stakeholders in identifying opportunities to transform vacant sites into housing for Californians.
- Aligning state housing and climate goals by creating tools to assess the environmental benefits of thriving urban cores and transportation centers, and working to better align housing and transportation investments across the state.
Investing in infill development in communities of all sizes
Governor Newsom today also announced that California has awarded $94 million in infill infrastructure grants to 25 projects that will support the development of 1,661 new homes in 15 California counties. The grants awarded today through the state’s Infill Infrastructure Grant Program will support capital improvement projects in the following California counties with populations of less than 250,000 people: Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Humboldt, Kings, Imperial, Madera, San Benito, Shasta, Sutter, Tehama, Tuolumne, Yolo, and Yuba.
Creating affordable housing for all Californians
Since taking office, Governor Newsom has invested $40 billion in affordable housing production and enacted dozens of CEQA reforms into law. In addition, Governor Newsom championed the creation of the Housing Accountability Unit at the California Department of Housing and Community Development to make sure cities and counties fulfill their legal responsibilities to plan and permit their fair share of housing. This focus on accountability has in part led to a 15-year high in housing starts in California.
Click here to read the full executive order.
Source: Office of the Governor
