March 22, 2023
San Diego Housing Commission Receives National Award for Accessory Dwelling Unit Development Pilot Program
Only 20 programs nationwide received the Award of Excellence
SAN DIEGO, CA — A San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) pilot program to build accessory dwelling units (ADU) and share “lessons learned” to help San Diego homeowners has earned a prestigious national award.
SDHC’s ADU Development Pilot Program is one of only 20 programs nationwide to receive an Award of Excellence this year from the National Association of Housing Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO). SDHC received the award Tuesday evening at NAHRO’s conference in Washington, D.C. NAHRO will also be presenting Awards of Excellence to additional agencies on Thursday evening.
“This award reflects the San Diego Housing Commission’s commitment to our core value of excellence and innovation in all we do,” SDHC Interim President & Chief Executive Officer Jeff Davis said. “ADUs are one of the main sources of potential new affordable rental housing units San Diego needs to address the housing shortage in the city. I thank Mayor Todd Gloria, the City Council, our Board of Commissioners and our exceptional staff for their continuing work to identify and implement innovative housing solutions.”
The Awards of Excellence “recognize outstanding innovation and achievement in housing and community development programs throughout the country.” NAHRO acknowledged SDHC for its “creativity and dedication, which now will serve as an inspiration to others,” and for making a difference in the community.
SDHC, working with its nonprofit affiliate Housing Development Partners, built five ADUs in the available yard space of five single-family homes SDHC owns and rents as affordable housing in the City of San Diego. This created five new affordable rental housing units.
Completed in fall 2021, these five new rental housing units remain affordable for 55 years for households with income up to 80 percent of San Diego’s Area Median Income, currently $83,300 per year for a two-person household. Each of the five ADUs is leased to a household with low income that receives Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher rental assistance from SDHC.
SDHC detailed key takeaways and lessons learned from the process of constructing these five ADUs in a comprehensive report to provide important information to help San Diego homeowners interested in building ADUs on their properties.
The report, “Accessory Dwelling Unit Pilot Program Lessons Learned for San Diego Homeowners,” documents the costs, processes and timelines associated with predevelopment, permitting and constructing each ADU type (manufactured, permit-ready design/building plans or custom plans).
The State of California and local jurisdictions, including the City of San Diego, have facilitated and encouraged the production of ADUs as a strategy to address the shortage of affordable housing.
In September 2017, SDHC published a report, “Addressing the Housing Affordability Crisis: San Diego Housing Production Objectives 2018 – 2028,” which identified ADUs as one of the five main sources of potential additional housing units in the City over 10 years.
In October 2020, the City of San Diego revised the San Diego Municipal Code regarding ADUs to implement the State of California’s mandate to promote the construction of ADUs. The revisions to facilitate ADU construction included reduced parking requirements, zoning setbacks and fire sprinklers, and waived Development Impact Fees, Facility Benefit Assessment Fees and General Plan Maintenance Fees.
In April 2022, SDHC also launched its ADU Finance Pilot Program, which provides low-interest loans and no-cost technical assistance to help homeowners with low income in the City of San Diego who want to build ADUs on their property.
For more information on SDHC’s ADU programs, visit www.sdhc.org/adu.
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Media Contact:
Scott Marshall
Vice President of Communications
San Diego Housing Commission
619-578-7138
