Street Level Advisors led a year-long process to rewrite the policies and procedures for San Francisco’s 10 year old inclusionary housing program. We met with city staff and developed a list of more than 200 specific implementation issues. We convened meetings with local housing advocates, developers, lenders and housing counseling agencies and developed proposed detailed changes to the program to address specific concerns. For example, in response to concerns about delays in processing homebuyer applications, we identified a more efficient sequence for screening applicants; we built an online system for tracking the resolution of these issues and managing versions of the program manual as it evolved. We rewrote the entire 200 page manual to be clearer and more accessible. For key consumer facing sections of the manual, we rewrote the text to be clear at an 8th grade reading level.
Portfolio Category: Inclusionary Housing
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Inclusionary Housing Calculator
This interactive tool published by Grounded Solutions Network was designed to help policymakers and advocates better understand the real estate economics related to inclusionary housing. The tool incorporates a complete real estate project pro forma but simplifies the inputs and outputs to allow users to focus on the key variables that drive project feasibility. Street Level Advisors led the development of the tool and defined the underlying financial model. We have developed custom regional models for the Twin Cities, Metro Vancouver and the Province of Ontario.
Access the calculator at calc.InclusionaryHousing.org
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Inclusionary Housing Book
“Inclusionary Housing: Creating and Maintaining Equitable Communities,” charts a path forward for local policymakers who are grappling with the effects of gentrification, but who are wary of overburdening developers, impeding new housing construction, or inviting legal challenges. Through a review of literature and numerous case studies, author Rick Jacobus offers solutions for overcoming the major political, technical, legal and practical barriers to the adoption of inclusionary housing.
Download the book from the Lincoln Institute.
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Seattle Incentive Zoning Study
By Rick Jacobus and Joshua Abrams
The Seattle City Council commissioned this study to assess the impact of their Incentive Zoning policy. We compiled data about market rate housing production, affordable housing needs and the activity under Seattle’s Incentive Zoning Program in order to address a set of key questions relevant to potential changes to the IZ program.
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Best Practices in Inclusionary Housing
Delivering on the Promise of Inclusionary Housing:
Best Practices in Administration and Oversight
By Rick Jacobus for PolicyLinkThis paper outlines some of the challenges of ongoing administration of Inclusionary housing programs and highlights the policies, procedures and systems that successful programs have been using to address these challenges. The paper identifies common approaches to staffing these programs over time including partnerships with local consultants or nonprofit organizations and looks at scalable revenue sources to support the ongoing costs of administration.
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Inclusinary Housing in California
Written By Rick Jacobus and Maureen Hickey.
Affordable By Choice:Trends in California Inclusionary Housing Programs was commissioned by the Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California, The California Coalition for Rural Housing, The San Diego Housing Federation and the Sacramento Housing Alliance. The report details the findings of a statewide survey of local government agencies that have adopted inclusionary housing policies. Key findings include:
* Nearly one-third of California jurisdictions have inclusionary programs
* More then 80,000 Californians have housing through inclusionary programs
* Most inclusionary housing in integrated within market rate developments
* Inclusionary housing provides shelter for those most in need
* Lower-income households are best served through partnerships