Governor Brown Signs AB 116, Adds Fuel to CA Housing Recovery
WASHINGTON, D.C. – July 12, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) –Governor Brown has signed Assembly Bill 116 (Bocanegra) extending for two years 3,500 existing parcel maps representing 400,000 housing units that can now be constructed.
This ensures projects that create thousands of construction related jobs and billions of dollars in economic output may move forward.
“Housing is driving California’s economic recovery,” said Mike Winn, CEO of the California Building Industry Association (CBIA). “Governor Brown has now helped ensure that we can move ahead at full speed, providing homes, communities and jobs for California.”
Winn added, “By enacting AB 116 the legislature and governor have saved housing employers from duplicating the entitlement process, which is extremely costly. Saddling builders with unnecessary bureaucratic and duplicative procedures discourages growth and job creation.”
Since 2008 and the collapse of the housing industry, CBIA has fought four separate times to keep these parcel maps enacted while fighting through the recession.
“This is really the culmination of a half a decade’s effort to survive the downturn and keep these “pipeline” projects viable so when the market returned so could these communities,” said Silvio Ferrari, Vice President of Legislative Affairs for CBIA. Ferrari continued, “Now that we are finally reaching a turning point in the recovery, the work by Assemblyman Bocanegra and the action taken by the Governor has stopped us from taking a step backwards.”
Background on the housing industry in California:
- The housing sector is leading California’s recovery. It generates $328 billion in direct and related economic activity and 10% of the state’s economic output.
- In 2012 new housing construction (residential and multi-family) contributed more than $26 billion per year to the state’s economy and supported 154,000 jobs.
- Projected housing starts estimate around 75,000 units in 2014 and 100,000 units in 2015. This is the equivalent of 400,000 jobs and $67.2 billion in output.
- Of the roughly 3,000 existing tentative tract and parcel maps throughout the state, a large portion represents projects approved in high-density urban cores, targeting affordable to middle income working individuals and families
Media Contact:
Megan MacNee
(916) 340-3352
mmacnee (at) cbia (dot) org
