Voters in many U.S. jurisdictions passed housing measures Nov. 8 that will collectively set aside billions of dollars in new funding to create more affordable housing and provide protections for renters.
Notable propositions impacting housing include:
- With 92% of votes counted, in Colorado, voters favored passage of Proposition 123, which would require the state to allocate about 2% of income tax revenues in the annual budget for affordable housing.
- A so-called “mansion tax” in Los Angeles appeared headed for passage. It would impose a one-time tax on residential and commercial property sales that exceed $5 million with money directed to construction of affordable housing, emergency rent subsidies, and services for those at-risk homelessness.
- Berkeley, Calif., passed a $650 bond measure that sets aside $200 million to create 1,500 affordable units for low-income residents and people experiencing homelessness.
- Oakland, Calif., passed a $350 million bond measure to buy, rehabilitate, and build affordable housing.
- A bond measure passed in Buncombe County, North Carolina, (including the City of Asheville) that raises $40 million to pay for low-to-moderate-income affordable housing.
- Austin, Texas, passed a $350 million bond measure for low-income rental housing, low-income homeownership, home repairs, and preservation of existing affordable housing.
- A $200 million bond package passed in Columbus, Ohio, to create new affordable units, aid affordable home ownership, preserve existing affordable units, and support residents experiencing homelessness.
- In Kansas City, Missouri, a $50 million bond measure will help rehabilitate, renovate, and construct housing for very low- to moderate-income households.
Related Stories
Adaptive Reuse | Mar 15, 2024
San Francisco voters approve tax break for office-to-residential conversions
San Francisco voters recently approved a ballot measure to offer tax breaks to developers who convert commercial buildings to residential use. The tax break applies to conversions of up to 5 million sf of commercial space through 2030.
Affordable Housing | Mar 11, 2024
Los Angeles’s streamlined approval policies leading to boom in affordable housing plans
Since December 2022, Los Angeles’s planning department has received plans for more than 13,770 affordable units. The number of units put in the approval pipeline in roughly one year is just below the total number of affordable units approved in Los Angeles in 2020, 2021, and 2022 combined.
Green | Mar 5, 2024
New York City’s Green Economy Action Plan aims for building decarbonization
New York City’s recently revealed Green Economy Action Plan includes the goals of the decarbonization of buildings and developing a renewable energy system. The ambitious plan includes enabling low-carbon alternatives in the transportation sector and boosting green industries, aiming to create more than 12,000 green economy apprenticeships by 2040.
Affordable Housing | Feb 26, 2024
Biden-Harris Administration announces historic homelessness assistance funding
The Biden-Harris Administration allocation of $3.16 billion in homelessness assistance funding will be administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through the Continuum of Care Program.
Sustainability | Feb 26, 2024
GBBN's Inflation Reduction Act Calculator goes live
GBBN has publicly released its IRA Calculator, a tool that helps you understand funding opportunities in the IRA for sustainable design.
MFPRO+ News | Feb 15, 2024
Nine states pledge to transition to heat pumps for residential HVAC and water heating
Nine states have signed a joint agreement to accelerate the transition to residential building electrification by significantly expanding heat pump sales to meet heating, cooling, and water heating demand. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by directors of environmental agencies from California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Rhode Island.
MFPRO+ News | Feb 15, 2024
Oregon, California, Maine among states enacting policies to spur construction of missing middle housing
Although the number of new apartment building units recently reached the highest point in nearly 50 years, construction of duplexes, triplexes, and other buildings of from two to nine units made up just 1% of new housing units built in 2022. A few states have recently enacted new laws to spur more construction of these missing middle housing options.
MFPRO+ News | Jan 12, 2024
Detroit may tax land more than buildings to spur development of vacant sites
The City of Detroit is considering a revamp of how it taxes property to encourage development of more vacant lots. The land-value tax has rarely been tried in the U.S., but versions of it have been adopted in many other countries.
AEC Tech | Jan 8, 2024
What's driving the surge of digital transformation in AEC today?
For centuries, the AEC industry has clung to traditional methods and legacy processes—seated patterns that have bred resistance to change. This has made the adoption of new technologies a slow and hesitant process.
MFPRO+ News | Jan 2, 2024
New York City will slash regulations on housing projects
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is expected to cut red tape to make it easier and less costly to build housing projects in the city. Adams would exempt projects with fewer than 175 units in low-density residential areas and those with fewer than 250 units in commercial, manufacturing, and medium- and high-density residential areas from environmental review.