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Councilmember Todillos asks staff to analyze pairing financing tools to boost affordable housing
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Summary
Councilmember Todillos asked the Rules and Open Government Committee to accept a memo directing staff to analyze combining financing tools — including housing production incentives, master lease financing, gap financing and private activity bonds — to increase affordable units in mixed-income projects; the committee approved the referral to workload analysis.
Councilmember Todillos presented a memo asking the committee to authorize a deeper analysis of alternative financing tools to support affordable housing production.
"The memo before you today is a direct response to the options outlined in the recent info memo from housing director Eric Sullivan on alternative financing for affordable housing production," Todillos said, adding that limited public funding has been the greatest constraint on producing affordable units. He recommended combining tools such as housing production incentives, master lease financing, gap financing and private activity bond programs to bring more affordable units into market-rate developments.
Todillos said the approach would not eliminate the need for 100% affordable projects but could lower per-unit costs and create mixed-income developments. "The direction in our memo is to return to council with deeper analysis of these options, what trade offs we anticipate, the potential impact on our housing pipeline, and analysis of both the breadth and the depth of affordability," he said.
Vice Mayor Foley moved approval of the memo "subject to workload analysis and refer it to workload analysis," and the chair seconded the motion. The committee voted to approve the referral. Todillos thanked coauthors and Councilmember Ortiz for originating the related memo.
Why it matters: City officials said limited public funding constrains affordable housing production. The requested analysis will deliver staff findings on trade-offs, likely impacts on the city’s housing pipeline and how deeply units could be subsidized — information council members said they need before advancing policy changes.
Next steps: Staff are expected to return to the council with the requested analysis and recommendations for which financing combinations are feasible and how they might affect affordability outcomes.
