California passes bill to convert commercial properties into housing

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill to accelerate new housing construction for specific affordable housing projects around California and help with the housing crisis.

The state needs to build 180,000 new units of housing every year to keep up with existing demand, including 80,000 units affordable to lower-income households, according to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). It has averaged fewer than 100,000 new units per year, and has never produced more than 20,000 new affordable homes in any year, according to HCD.

The two bills, Senate Bill 6 and Assembly Bill 2011, are designed to make the approval process more efficient for commercial sites zoned for retail, office or parking uses to be converted into residential projects.

The new laws could provide “up to 2.4 million new homes, including up to 400,000 homes affordable to low and moderate income households,” according to an