New land development project

[Jonathan Lubenko]

Hello BP community, I have a few questions that I'm looking for advice on. I own a nice five acre plot in the city where I live in Northern California. I would like to develop the property with the main objective of providing some more affordable housing in my area while providing me with a moderate passive income through long term rentals. I know just by being a part of the community that there are not a lot of places for rent and it keeps getting harder and harder as we get more people moving here from out of the surrounding areas. My questions for all of you,

1. What kind of research should I do to determine what kind of project would best suit my specific market?  (Apartments, single family homes, condos, etc.)

2. In the state of California are there any incentive programs for building affordable housing that I should be aware of and where can I go to find them? (I'm sure I could check the state's resources on these topics but I think government websites take years off of my life so I'm asking you folks first.)

3. I've been looking for innovative solutions to the affordable housing dilemma in California and have come across a lot of startup companies creating pre-fab homes for fairly affordable prices that seem to be very high quality. This seems like a good way to keep rents low while not sacrificing the standard of living that people come to expect in newer rentals. Does anybody have any recommendations for pre-fab companies they have worked with in the past or are looking forward to working with in the future?

Thanks for your time and I look forward to hearing what you all have to say.

[James M.]

Hi Jonathan,

I am a licensed architect in LA, I might be able to help you with some of these questions.

1. The type of project will most likely be determined by two factors: A) what is allowed by your local zoning (I am assuming Amador County) on your land and B) what your local market can support. In a more rural area, it might be more appropriate to build small cabins/homes, RV hook-ups, mobile home sites, etc. You will need to figure out what makes sense based on the local economy and your overall goals.

2. There are a slew of affordable housing bonuses available at the federal, state, and local level. An example is the California Multifamily Housing Program

3. This an interesting question. I think it's good to think about prefabrication on two levels: A) can we prefabricate larger building components that can slide into typical construction practices? This would include things like prefab bathrooms or SIPS. B) Full scale prefabricated dwellings. These can range from mobile-home like units to higher end products from companies like Connect Homes or Cover. I think a great model to look at is Impact Housing, a developer that designs and builds modular housing units that they assemble into large multi-family projects.

Let me know what you think! Sounds like a great project.