1217 Euclid Street, 1211-1217 Fourteenth Street, 1146 Sixteenth Street Affordable Housing Development Request for Proposals

For more than four decades, Santa Monica residents and voters have supported the preservation and production of affordable housing as a core local value. As market pressures have affected the affordability of housing in Santa Monica, the community has continued to support the urgency and need for more affordable housing. Creating more affordable housing is a key strategy for maintaining economic diversity and affordability in Santa Monica. On October 11, 2022, the Santa Monica City Council adopted the 2021-2029 Housing Element, a State-mandated plan for meeting the City’s share of regional housing needs. State law requires that the Housing Element include an inventory of sites that demonstrate the City’s capacity to realistically accommodate housing at all income levels. To address the City’s shortfall of sites that are suitable for the creation of housing affordable to lower income households, the City has committed to developing 100% affordable housing on City-owned land, as provided in Housing Element Program 2.E (Attachment A). The Housing Element identifies the City-owned sites with the highest potential for affordable housing. These include three City public surface parking lots at 1217 Euclid Street, 1211-1217 Fourteenth Street, and 1146 Sixteenth Street. As shown in Housing Element Appendix F, Figure F-7 (Attachment B), these three sites are estimated to accommodate a total of 130 residences. The City seeks creative conceptual proposals from proven development teams to build affordable housing on these sites. The purpose of this RFP is to evaluate the qualifications, experience and capacity of proposer teams. Staff will evaluate and recommend a development team to the City Council, which will select a development team. The conceptual proposals will illustrate the teams’ qualifications as applied to the three sites, with the final development proposal to be determined by the community outreach process after Council selects a team. Housing Objectives for the Development The affordable housing objectives for the development at 1217 Euclid Street, 1211-1217 Fourteenth Street, and 1146 Sixteenth Street include: The sites should collectively accommodate the 130 total homes estimated in the Housing Element for these three sites. If the number of homes projected in the Housing Element is not feasible or optimal for the proposer’s development concept, proposer(s) should explain why and propose an alternative. The affordable housing will serve one or more of the groups identified in the Housing Element as having greater difficulty accessing housing in Santa Monica (Attachment C) or that are prioritized in the most recently adopted City Housing Trust Fund Plan (Attachment D). These include Santa Monicans experiencing homelessness, seniors, persons living with disabilities, large families, and small families (including individuals), single-parent households, and households living in poverty. All residences in the proposed developments must serve residents earning no more than 80% of area median income (AMI), subject to long-term income eligibility and affordability covenants. All residents must be referred from a City-maintained list of prospective applicants, with a priority for those who live or work in Santa Monica. The developments should be cost-effective and minimize City Housing Trust Fund investment. The City’s Housing Trust Fund Guidelines are provided as Attachment E.