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ULI San Francisco: Unlocking Housing Development - Strategic Solutions for Cities to Get Housing Built
With California’s housing crisis worsening and tensions around updated Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) numbers, there is an opportunity to re-envision often exclusionary and restrictive zoning regulations for smart growth. This new ULI offering examines common conflicts between zoning regulations and the practicalities of housing construction, as well as the resulting impacts on housing costs. It also aims to identify key strategies designed to help move beyond the tension, enabling communities to advance solutions to their housing challenges.
The program has two separate components: 1) An educational webinar training hosted by ULI members with different expertise that will cover technical explanations of common code roadblocks in housing construction; and 2) A one-on-one Housing Opportunity Consultation, designed for public agencies, in which proposed code language can be reviewed and specific sites can be “test-fit”, resulting in a focused analysis and recommendations from a ULI team of experts.
Webinar:
The invitation-only webinar for public sector staff, elected and appointed officials, and policymakers will be held on September 22nd at 11am, and will provide participants with an understanding of key building code and construction requirements specific to housing, where zoning codes often do not align, and how this misalignment results in higher housing costs.
Housing Opportunity Consultation:
We understand that each city in the Bay Area has unique conditions and codes and specific feedback from practitioners and experts in the field could be beneficial while crafting policies and regulations that impact housing development. ULI SF’s new Housing Opportunity Consultation is a one-on-one “test-fit” advisory session that provides an opportunity for public agencies to dive into a handful of the highlighted conflicts from the webinar in their own specific context.
In preparation for a Housing Opportunity Consultation, each city will be asked to provide ULI SF with specific zoning or design guideline language and two or three specific sites to study. Two ULI member experts, an architect and a developer, will study the sites and provide a focused analysis and test-fits for the city on what works as well as specific strategies to aid the construction of housing in their community. The ULI SF member team will meet with city staff to understand the guidelines and the proposed sites to further inform their analysis. The team will present their findings to the city in a 1-2 hour Zoom meeting, which will include a presentation and time for in-depth discussion. As a final deliverable, the city will be provided with the presentation and a short memo summarizing the recommended strategies. The cost of this ULI SF offering is between $6,000-$10,000 depending on the number of sites and specific needs.
If you represent a city that is interested in a Housing Opportunity Consultation, please send a letter of interest to Natalie Sandoval, Senior Director at ULI SF, for more information: [email protected].
The program has two separate components: 1) An educational webinar training hosted by ULI members with different expertise that will cover technical explanations of common code roadblocks in housing construction; and 2) A one-on-one Housing Opportunity Consultation, designed for public agencies, in which proposed code language can be reviewed and specific sites can be “test-fit”, resulting in a focused analysis and recommendations from a ULI team of experts.
Webinar:
The invitation-only webinar for public sector staff, elected and appointed officials, and policymakers will be held on September 22nd at 11am, and will provide participants with an understanding of key building code and construction requirements specific to housing, where zoning codes often do not align, and how this misalignment results in higher housing costs.
For each area, the presentation will offer a technical summary, explain the resulting conflicts and impacts through diagrams and case studies, and offer recommended alternatives. Topics that will be discussed include, but are not limited to: density, parking, height limits, and open space. The goal of this educational offering is knowledge sharing between ULI members and the broader community - with an aim to help cities unlock how to build more housing.
Speakers will include:
- Sarah Ahmadzai, Associate AIA, Associate, David Baker Architects
- Jonathan Cohen, FAIA, Founder and Principal, Poplar Design Advisors
- Elizabeth Seifel, AICP, Owner, Seifel Consulting
- Lydia Tan, Principal, Tan Consulting
- Jessica von Borck, Director of Land Use Planning, Stanford University
If you are interested in attending this free, invitation-only webinar, please email Natalie Sandoval, Senior Director at ULI SF, for more information: [email protected]. You can see a list of registered attendees here.
This event is eligible for 1.5 AICP CMs (certification maintenance credits) and 1.5 AIA LUs (learning units). After the event, AICP members can use the event code #9221265 to find the event on the AICP Calendar of Events and log their credits. To receive AIA credits, attendees will be required to complete a short post-event evaluation. If you have any questions regarding AICP or AIA credits, please contact Cindy Wilson at [email protected].
Housing Opportunity Consultation:
We understand that each city in the Bay Area has unique conditions and codes and specific feedback from practitioners and experts in the field could be beneficial while crafting policies and regulations that impact housing development. ULI SF’s new Housing Opportunity Consultation is a one-on-one “test-fit” advisory session that provides an opportunity for public agencies to dive into a handful of the highlighted conflicts from the webinar in their own specific context.
In preparation for a Housing Opportunity Consultation, each city will be asked to provide ULI SF with specific zoning or design guideline language and two or three specific sites to study. Two ULI member experts, an architect and a developer, will study the sites and provide a focused analysis and test-fits for the city on what works as well as specific strategies to aid the construction of housing in their community. The ULI SF member team will meet with city staff to understand the guidelines and the proposed sites to further inform their analysis. The team will present their findings to the city in a 1-2 hour Zoom meeting, which will include a presentation and time for in-depth discussion. As a final deliverable, the city will be provided with the presentation and a short memo summarizing the recommended strategies. The cost of this ULI SF offering is between $6,000-$10,000 depending on the number of sites and specific needs.
If you represent a city that is interested in a Housing Opportunity Consultation, please send a letter of interest to Natalie Sandoval, Senior Director at ULI SF, for more information: [email protected].