California Housing Overview: State Land, Palisades, and SROs

Let’s move on to some California housing news:

• Housing projects on state land: Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office last week unveiled six affordable housing projects that are slated to be built on state propertyincluding at former DMV sites in Fontana and Stockton. The projects include at least 840 total affordable housing units and stem from a 2019 executive order directing state agencies to review state property that could be used for housing. All six sites have entered into lease option agreements by Nov. 13, according to a spokesman for the state Department of General Services.

• Los Angeles Area Wildfire Recovery ‘Milestone’?: In November, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass touted the first single-family home in Pacific Palisades to receive city occupancy approval after the Palisades fire destroyed thousands of buildings and killed 12 in January. In a statement, Bass said the “major milestone” marked an “important moment of hope,” but a housing company, not a family, owns the house, reports A politician. Thomas James Homes purchased the property, located at 915 N Kagawa Street, in November 2024 and began the permitting process prior to the wildfire. bass received a negative response from critics who argues that the praise is misleading.

• Affordable housing survey: A new study of the non-profit organization Enterprise analyzed 39 one-bedroom properties in California owned by nonprofit operators. Viewed by housing advocates as a critical component of housing for low-income renters, the study looked at more than 3,000 SRO units and found that most were “inherently quite old,” with an average year of construction of 1928 — a year before the Great Depression. Ninety-five percent of the projects are also operating at a deficit, forcing housing providers to give up more than $24 million of their own money to keep the properties open. These housing units also have an average 20% vacancy rate.

At least 10 candidates are running in 2026 to succeed Newsom as California’s next governor, and the race remains wide open: In a poll released by UC Berkeley last month, 44 percent of voters polled had no preference for governor, and no candidate topped 15 percent.

To keep track of the revolving door of applicants, Jeanne Kuang of CalMatters has a guide detailing the each of the top candidateswhich include:

• Xavier Becerra: The former US Secretary of Health and Human Services was recently embroiled in a scandal after the FBI revealed that Newsom’s former chief of staff and other political advisers conspired to steal money from a dormant campaign account held by Becerra.

• Katie Porter: Last month, the former Orange County congressman received bad press after she was caught on camera trying to walk out of a TV interview, and another video showed Porter berating a staff member during a Zoom call.

• Chad Bianco: Riverside County’s pro-Trump sheriff wants to loosen regulations on businesses and repeal California’s sanctuary laws. Despite being tied with Porter in the polls, no GOP candidate has won the state seat in nearly 20 years.

Read more here.

From CalMatters Editor-in-Chief Kristen Gow:

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