Bill to Convert Buildings into Affordable Housing Clears CA Assembly Unanimously

California Assembly Bill 1695 (Miguel Santiago, D-53^rd District) makes adaptive reuse of existing buildings permanently eligible for the state's affordable multifamily housing loan programs

The bill, which defines ‘adaptive reuse’ to mean the retrofitting and repurposing of an existing building to create new residential units, cleared the Assembly unanimously earlier today and now heads to Governor Newsom’s desk

California Assembly Bill 1695 (Miguel Santiago, D- 53^rd District), which will allow for state funding and loans for the development of affordable multifamily housing projects utilizing ‘adaptive reuse’ of existing buildings, cleared the Assembly earlier today in a unanimous vote. The bill, sponsored by AHF, now heads to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk.

“We are thrilled that the California State Assembly and Senate have unanimously passed AB 1695. Converting underutilized older buildings into permanent housing (adaptive reuse) for homeless and low income communities is one of the quickest and least expensive pathways to addressing our affordable housing and homelessness crisis. We are hopeful Governor Newsom will sign the bill,” said Susie Shannon, Policy Director for Housing Is A Human Right (HHR), AHF’s housing advocacy division.

AHF also operates the Healthy Housing Foundation (HHF), a direct housing provider for extremely-low-income and formerly homeless individuals, and utilizes adaptive reuse of existing buildings to create its housing stock.

Santiago’s bill will streamline creation of thousands of cost-effective housing units desperately needed to help house California’s homeless and extremely-low-income population. California currently ranks number one in homelessness in the U.S., with just over 161,000 individuals reportedly homeless.

AB 1695 would:

“This bill would provide that any notice of funding availability issued by the department for an affordable multifamily housing loan program shall state that adaptive reuse of a property for affordable housing purposes is an eligible activity. The bill would define 'adaptive reuse' for these purposes to mean the retrofitting and repurposing of an existing building to create new residential units, as specified.”

Since 2017, AHF through its Healthy Housing Foundation (HHF) has been purchasing, restoring, and re-populating 13 Greater Los Angeles area single-room-occupancy buildings and other hotels and motels (1,425 rooms and counting) at a low cost, to provide everyday Angelinos with the access to desperately needed affordable housing for the city of Los Angeles.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 1.6 million individuals in 45 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth, follow us @aidshealthcare or subscribe to our AHF podcast “AHFter Hours.”

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Re: Mr. Santiago's AB 1695: Converting underutilized older buildings into permanent housing (adaptive reuse) for homeless and low-income communities is one of the quickest and least expensive ways to address our affordable housing and homelessness crisis.