SAN RAMON, CA, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The True Life Companies (TTLC), a real estate company and community developer focused on providing forward-looking solutions to the housing crisis, is currently planning to bring nearly 250 single-family homes and townhomes to several communities in the greater Bay Area in 2021 -2022 by utilizing Senate Bill 330 and the Housing Accountability Act.
SB 330, also known as the Housing Crisis Act of 2019, became effective January 1, 2020 and runs through January 1, 2025. This legislation contained several key reforms, including stricter timelines for processing applications to build new housing, and closing loopholes that allowed cities to deny housing development by delaying decisions. In addition, the Housing Accountability Act is a 1982 law that has been significantly strengthened over the years and requires towns, cities and counties to approve all residential development projects that meet objective general plan standards without any additional requirements or modifications once the application has been received.
The purpose of these housing production laws are to get new homes into the market, protect existing housing, and expedite the processing of building permits to alleviate the state’s high housing costs, which have led to inadequate supply.
According to Leah Beniston, VP of Entitlements for TTLC, ““Historically, housing approvals are fraught with delays associated with slow-growth local policies and practices. Delays show up as increases to the cost of the home for the prospective buyer who is already competing with other buyers over a constrained housing supply. SB 330 and the Housing Accountability Act require cities and counties to recognize conforming projects, inhibiting some cities from layering on additional costly and time consuming discretionary requirements that delay the approval of new housing. TTLC is proud to be at the forefront of the push to bring attainable housing faster to Bay Area communities through compliance with existing General Plans and Zoning already adopted into law.”
More specifically, TTLC’s future communities include 50 townhomes and 12,000 square feet of retail space in Sunnyvale, 55 live/work townhomes in Hayward, 41 townhomes in San Jose, 57 townhomes in San Ramon and 46 single-family homes in Calistoga.
"New laws like SB330 are crucial in making sure the region meets our housing and climate goals, while still preserving our valuable natural and working lands,” said Zoe Siegal, Director of Climate Resilience for the Greenbelt Alliance. “SB 330 helps make sure municipalities approve housing where it makes sense and where they have already planned for it—within existing cities and towns. Greenbelt Alliance is happy to see the State introduce laws…that are showing results.”
Richard Mehlinger, Chair of Livable Sunnyvale stated, "SB 330 is one of the most important pieces of housing legislation passed in recent years…it strengthens the rule of law in land use, by requiring that land-use decisions are rendered in a timely fashion on the basis of open, objective, and evenly applied regulations.”
According to a 2016 report by the McKinsey Global Institute, California ranked 49th in the nation for the number of housing units per capita. Moreover, according to the California Association of Realtors®, by December 2020 this shortage and overcrowding had led to a median price of nearly $720,000 for single-family homes and $520,000 for condos and townhomes.
With these important laws in place, TTLC is committed to partnering with cities to utilize this and other critical state laws to bring more attainable housing to the Bay Area and throughout California.
About The True Life Companies
The True Life Companies is composed of a team of highly successful residential real estate professionals who work together with property owners, municipalities and local stakeholders to address the need for critically-needed attainable housing solutions in our metro regions. TTLC seeks to establish suburban and urban housing options that are the result of insightful research, innovative planning, and creative collaboration. TTLC is headquartered in Denver with offices in San Ramon, Folsom and Irvine, California. For more information on TTLC’s portfolio, including their active properties, visit www.TheTrueLifeCompanies.com or visit www.facebook.com/thetruelifecompanies.