Sacramento staff: city produced 2,737 housing units in 2025, at 29% of RHNA target

Senior planner Greta Seuss presented Sacramento’s 2025 Housing Element annual progress report to the City Council, reporting that the city produced 2,737 housing units in 2025 — nearly a 15% increase from 2024 — and that the city has completed about 29% of its RHNA target of 45,580 units for the 2021–2029 planning period.

The presentation, delivered in the community development department’s slide deck, broke the production down by income band and project type. Seuss told the council that 930 of the 2025 units were deed‑restricted affordable units, representing roughly 34% of that year’s production, and that housing production in 2025 occurred across all income levels.

“Every April, the city is required to submit a housing element annual progress report to the state for the prior calendar year,” Seuss said. She added that the city is about five years into the eight‑year RHNA cycle and that the city’s cumulative progress remains below the linear pace needed to meet the overall RHNA target.

City housing manager Yayen Aisle reviewed projects the city has directly funded or supported. Aisle listed completed and near‑complete projects the city helped finance — including a motel conversion that created permanent supportive housing — and said the city invested about $25.2 million in projects that recently completed 664 units and has roughly $43 million committed for about 1,300 units in the pipeline. Aisle also itemized several larger projects in construction or entitlement, including the Bridge Housing project and phases of the San Juan apartments, and noted partnerships with county and regional agencies for some sites.

Staff emphasized the cost pressures on subsidized projects. “I often get asked why is it so expensive to build affordable housing,” Aisle said. He explained that projects that serve households at 30%–60% of area median income require ongoing rental subsidy and additional services, that prevailing‑wage requirements and higher service staffing raise per‑unit costs, and that some projects incorporate multifaceted financing. The presentation cited a staff estimate of roughly $600,000 per unit on many affordable projects — a figure staff said reflects financing and long‑term subsidy needs rather than construction materials alone.

Council members pressed staff on gaps and trade‑offs. Council member Dickinson said the council is “nowhere close to meeting our RHNA numbers” and asked staff to identify what could accelerate production given the remaining time in the planning period. Council member Kaplan asked why some deed‑restricted projects (those built without city subsidy) were not in staff’s highlighted list; staff replied that the presentation focused on projects where the city had direct investment but confirmed that deed‑restricted units built without city subsidy do count toward RHNA.

Council members also questioned rental‑assistance efforts and outreach. Dickinson said about 7,500 tenant packets were mailed and roughly 5,200 were returned; staff said some rental‑assistance programs were one‑time efforts tied to a settlement and Stockton Boulevard anti‑displacement funds and that broader, continuing rental‑assistance funding has not been identified.

The council and staff discussed several policy levers that may affect cost and pace, from local zoning and code work (missing middle, ADU rules, condo conversion ordinance) to limits imposed by state building code requirements. Tom Pace, the city’s director of community development, told the council the city’s ability to change building‑code cost drivers is limited because state code sets key standards, and he encouraged state legislative avenues to ease cost burdens on small multifamily development.

No formal vote was taken on the item; staff said they will return with additional analyses, upcoming AHSC (Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities) application recommendations and planned workshops on code changes.

What’s next: staff said they will bring AHSC recommendations to council in April and continue workshops on zoning and the missing‑middle ordinance as potential tools to accelerate production.