State Names Berkeley Among “Prohousing” Cities in NorCal

Gov. Gavin Newsom has named Berkeley as a “prohousing” city, along with Richmond, Pinole, Fairfield, Crescent City and South Lake Tahoe.

The state credited the six Northern California governments, plus four cities in Southern California, with fulfilling a mission to encourage housing development across all income levels, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

Berkeley earned the designation for prioritizing the building of accessory dwelling units, or “granny flats,” awarding development loans and removing minimum parking requirements, according to the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development.

“Earning the pro-housing designation requires a strong, demonstrated commitment to tearing down barriers and working to create more housing faster,” Gustavo Velasquez, director of the department, said in a statement.

The state also named Los Angeles County, West Hollywood, Brea and Rancho Cucamonga in Southern California as prohousing jurisdictions.

Prohousing communities, which now include 47 cities and counties, aim to support a state goal of building 2.5 million new homes by 2030 by reducing barriers to construction, relaxing housing policies and building affordable homes.

The state’s Prohousing Designation Program includes incentives and accountability measures established by the 2019–2020 Budget Act. Prohousing communities get exclusive access to grants, plus extra points in the scoring of competitive housing, community development and infrastructure funding programs by the Department of Housing and Community Development.

The 47 communities are eligible to apply for a share of $9.5 million available in the Prohousing Incentive Program Round 2, to be awarded this summer.

Berkeley has dozens of apartment projects in the pipeline, including a 25-story tower with more than 300 units at 2190 Shattuck Avenue, and a 28-story apartment building at 1998 Shattuck Avenue that would be the tallest in town.

Developers filed applications to build more than 1,600 new homes across the East Bay city in December — about the same number that were completed over the past five years, with 1,700 units built.

In recent years, the city approved changes to allow for taller buildings and a denser downtown. In 2021, it removed the minimum parking requirement for single- and multi-family projects.

Berkeley recently rezoned the neighborhood south of the UC Berkeley campus to allow buildings as high as 12 stories to help address a housing shortage for students and faculty. The move nearly doubled the development potential of the neighborhood,allowing for another 2,652 homes.

The state also recognized that Berkeley prioritizes ADU permit applications and awards regular development loans for affordable projects through its Housing Trust Fund.

— Dana Bartholomew