Gavin Newsom Proposes $101 Million in Affordable Housing

The state of California is looking to swoop in and help build affordable rental housing in areas burned by the Los Angeles wildfires.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has tapped the California Department of Housing and Community Development to commit $101 million to build affordable units in fire-damaged areas, L.A. Business First reported. The governor is using the department’s Multifamily Finance Super NOFA, or Notice of Funding Availability, to allow affordable housing developers to apply to multiple funding programs using a simple application.

The Department of Housing and Community Development released a similar NOFA in February, a month after the fires. That $382 million funding tranche was made available for affordable multifamily rental housing statewide. The following month, a separate $50 million Tribal Multifamily Finance Super NOFA, added to the pile of cash for affordable projects.

“Los Angeles has taken significant steps to rebuild after January’s fires, but the devastation is significant and there remains a long road ahead,” Newsom said in a statement, adding that the new funding will “accelerate the development of affordable multifamily rental housing so that those rebuilding their lives after this tragedy have access to a safe, affordable place to come home to.”

Projects that prioritize households displaced by the wildfires will get first dibs on the condition that they remain affordable for at least 55 years, according to L.A. Business First. The recent rollback of key California Environmental Quality Act provisions could make it easier and faster for developers to build infill housing projects.

Funding for the projects includes grants for the infrastructure needed to facilitate housing development with a focus on disaster resilience and mitigation; low-interest loans for the development of new multifamily units for low-income and very low-income households; and operating subsidy reserves.

In Los Angeles County, low-income is defined as one person making less than $84,850 annually, while very low-income individuals make less than $53,000.

The release of funds comes on the heels of Newsom’s announcement that the public debris removal program has cleared more than 10,000 fire-damaged lots, making it the fastest major disaster cleanup in U.S. history. In the six months since the blazes, 95 building permits have been issued in the Palisades and Eaton fire burn zones, according to the county’s permitting progress tracker.

Application materials for the state’s Multifamily Finance Super NOFA for the L.A. disaster will be available July 21 with all required application documents submitted to the housing development agency’s website by Aug. 21. — Chris Malone Méndez