Cupertino Entitled an Amazing 3,457 Housing Units!
What is the Status of Housing in Cupertino?
The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) department certifies one part of each city's General Plan: The Housing Element. HCD identifies the total number of homes which each region needs to plan for, and our region, known as the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), then lets each city know what their assessment is for the housing units needed at the end of each RHNA cycle. In the Housing Element there is a table of Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) which presents each of four different income categories based on the area median income, varying from Very Low Income to Above Moderate Income and the amount of housing to be produced in each category by the end of the RHNA cycle. The next RHNA cycle is in 2030 and the projected housing unit need for the Bay Area is 441,176. This number does not take into account any changes in housing and transportation patterns due to COVID-19.
The cities then track their progress meeting these regional housing needs based on the number of permits issued, then, by law, reports the progress annually to HCD. If the city fails to meet the RHNA numbers, they may become subject to SB 35, the law which was used to get by-right ministerial approval of the Vallco SB 35 project. There are two categories of qualification to SB 35: one which requires the developer build only 10% of the units affordable to people earning below 80% of the area median income and one which requires the developer to provide 50% affordable to 80% of the area moderate income. Cupertino projects need to be 50% affordable to people earning 80% below the area median income in order to qualify for SB 35 (along with a host of additional requirements).
The current projected need for our RHNA cycle is 1,064 however, the City of Cupertino has entitled (approved) an incredible 3,457 housing units! More than 2,400 OVER what was the projected need from RHNA and required by HCD. Even with that, Cupertino still is subject to more SB 35's because the developers have the entitlements and have not built. SB 35 metrics are based off of permits pulled, not projects approved/entitled. Developers build housing, not cities, yet the cities get punished when developers choose not to build.
Cupertino had the first project partially funded by Measure A: The Veranda, which is a Senior below market rate project, however the units are very expensive to produce at approximately $800,000 each. Three ways we can ensure affordable housing gets built is by shortening development agreements, insisting on state funding for affordable housing to assist developers, and improving the nexus between mitigation fees and profitability.
Key takeaways are that we have one of the best jobs:housing ratios in the area, we have approved triple the required housing, the city is strategizing getting approved projects built with the developers, and seeking to improve funding of affordable housing.
