University Challenge Presents Affordable Housing Plans

The Cal project proposed an affordable multifamily development for West Oakland.

SAN FRANCISCO—According to the legislative analyst’s office , California households with incomes in the bottom quartile report spending 67% of their income on housing, 11% more than other such households spend on housing elsewhere in the country. With the continued and growing need for affordable housing, educating and attracting the next generation of affordable housing professionals is ever more critical. Bank of America Merrill Lynch recently hosted its 25th Annual Low Income Housing Challenge , a university competition where teams compete to develop affordable housing proposals for possible future development. Teams are comprised of undergraduate and graduate students with an interest in real estate development, finance, architecture, planning and community development. Competing teams were represented from Portland State University, University of Southern California, California Polytechnic State University, University of California Los Angeles, University of California Berkeley, University of Arizona, University of Washington and Mercy College (New York) . The winners of the competition were University of California, Berkeley and California Polytechnic State University in a tie. Ari Beliak , vice president of community development banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, tells GlobeSt.com: “This year’s proposals were so extraordinary that it made the jurors’ decision very difficult. Ultimately, UC Berkeley and Cal Poly tied for first place because both projects were feasible from a financial, development, planning and architecture perspective as well as innovative in design and community impact. These projects could be built today without significant alteration, which is an amazing achievement for undergraduate and graduate students.” The University of California Berkeley project proposed an affordable multifamily development for West Oakland, CA, in response to rampantly escalating home prices and rental rates that are sweeping the Bay Area. A proposed partnership with Resources for Community Development (RCD), a well-established affordable housing developer headquartered in Berkeley, CA, would bring Heartwood Commons to a transit-proximate site. The 145-unit development would include 120 affordable rentals and 25 for-sale units. The project is designed to serve large family households while also meeting the needs of Oakland’s creative class, which has struggled to retain affordable housing and workspace in the current market, by providing 15 dedicated artist live/work lofts and more than 11,000 square feet of programed community art space. The site is conveniently located just one mile from the West Oakland BART station, providing regional connections to downtown Oakland and San Francisco. The site is a top three priority redevelopment site for the city of Oakland. The Heartwood Commons proposal is directly in line with the city’s intent to release a request for proposals for development of the site within the next six months. The rest of the Wood Street development area is either completed, under construction or has received approvals from the planning commission. Cal Poly’s project was a proposed design to house veterans in San Luis Obispo County. With Californians forced to spend more of their income on housing, family disposable income is reduced, longer commutes are necessary, poverty rates are increased, and greater stress is put on the delivery of public services, says research from both Next 10 and the legislative analyst’s office. Should California continue the trend of supply underdelivering in the face of increasing demand, the consequences could include the inability for employers to recruit and retain employees, middle and lower income wage income earners migrating out of California, the inability for low and middle income families to attain homeownership as a means to build wealth, the  continuation of overcrowded housing to the detriment of educational and behavioral health outcomes, and an increase in the poverty index.