To continue to address the state’s long-term affordable housing shortfall, California officials today announced all $1.02 billion in new awards for California Housing Accelerator, which provides funding to 30 shovel-ready projects in lieu of tax credit equity to create 2,755 new units of housing, most of it for lower income Californians.

In all, the California Housing Accelerator has awarded $1.9 billion to support 57 projects that will produce 5,070 total units, including affordable low-income homes for seniors, families, transitional-age youth, veterans, the disabled, and unhoused individuals, as well as manager units

“California is tackling the housing affordability crisis with an innovative ‘all of the above’ approach,” said Governor Gavin Newsom, who signed a historic homelessness and housing package yesterday at the site of one of the newest California Housing Accelerator awardees. “The awards going out today will be creating more housing, faster, for projects that can break ground within a matter of weeks and create thousands of homes.”

“Stable affordable housing leads to positive outcomes for families and communities,” said Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramírez. “Moving these 30 projects into construction provides sorely-needed affordable housing, promotes local economic growth, and creates opportunity for essential workers, seniors, veterans, and families with children.”

The Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) had already provided eligible multifamily housing projects with state funds, but many stalled due to an insufficient supply of tax credits and bonds necessary to complete the job.

“The quick, strategic investments the state has made through the California Housing Accelerator brings us another step closer to the 2.5 million homes needed by 2030, as outlined in our Statewide Housing Plan,” said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez. “Just one year after Governor Newsom announced the California Housing Accelerator, HCD has helped partners unlock the ability to construct over 5,000 quality affordable homes, roughly 80 percent of which will be for extremely low to very low-income households and unhoused residents.”

To ensure effective implementation, the program included a dedicated strike team for outreach and reviews as well as a streamlined timeframe to award within 60 days of review. Applicants had to ensure projects proceed to construction within 180 days of awarded funds.

What California Housing Accelerator Award Recipients Have Said:

“On Treasure Island we have an incredible opportunity to create a whole new neighborhood that serves all San Franciscans,” said Mayor London Breed. “As we do that work it’s essential that we have affordable places for people to live that also provide housing for the existing residents of this community. I want to thank the community for their support of this project, as well as our state partners who are providing critical financial support for this project and others throughout San Francisco.”

“We are grateful for Governor Newsom and the State of California for creating the California Housing Accelerator, a new program that recognizes and prioritizes the enormous public benefit in communities like Foon Lok East with nearly 40 percent of homes for extremely low-income families and 30 percent for unhoused community members,” said Matthew O. Franklin, President and CEO of MidPen Housing. “We commend the state for aligning its resources with the need in the community, and in so doing strengthening this neighborhood through investment.”

“TNDC’s ability to make transformative change in San Francisco is only possible with deep investments in supportive and affordable housing like those we’ve seen with the California Housing Accelerator,” said Maurilio León, TNDC CEO. “180 Jones is one of the state’s first Accelerator buildings to advance and get one step closer to serving our neighbors with low incomes. We thank HCD, MOHCD, and the Tenderloin community’s advocacy for helping us build a more equitable and just San Francisco.”

“When we acquired this property from the City of Oakland back in 2014, it had been vacant and neglected for more than 30 years,” said Elaine Brown, CEO of Oakland & the World Enterprises, Accelerator award recipient. “This used to be a vibrant place that represented a better life for blacks migrating to California from other parts of the country, where black-owned businesses thrived and people had hope. When this project is fully up and running, it’s going to completely resurrect the spirit of what 7th Street used to be – a lively, important corridor of commerce, teeming with vitality and opportunity.”

View the full California Housing Accelerator Tier 1 Awards (XLSX) and Tier 2 Awards (XLSX) lists.