Affordable Housing Ordinance Policy and Procedure Implementation Guidelines

NOTICE IS HEREBY given that the City of Hayward invites sealed proposals for 25-050 Affordable Housing Ordinance Policy and Procedure Implementation Guidelines . Each proposal shall be in accordance with the general provisions for purchase of work and services on file in the office of the Housing , 777 B Street , Hayward , CA 94541-5114 . All proposals must be submitted to the City's eProcurement Portal by 4:00 pm on Monday, May 5, 2025 and clearly identified with RFP title, number, company name and due date. It is the sole responsibility of the proposing firm to ensure that proposals are received prior to the closing time, as late bids will not be accepted and deemed nonresponsive.

The City of Hayward, California, is in Alameda County and is known as the “Heart of the Bay” due to its central and convenient location near San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose. It is served by an extensive network of freeways and bus lines and has two BART stations and an Amtrak station. For over a century, the City of Hayward has capitalized on its strategic location and natural assets to become a regional hub for commerce and trade. Comprising 45.32 square miles on the eastern edge of the San Francisco Bay, Hayward is an economically and ethnically diverse city of approximately 159,202 residents [1] .

The AHO was adopted in 2003 to address the need for affordable housing created by market-rate housing development. On November 28, 2017, the Council adopted amendments to the AHO based on feedback from a variety of stakeholders, including the following major revisions:

• Extending the applicability of the AHO from projects consisting of 20 units or more to projects that consist of 2 units or more.
• To encourage the on-site inclusion of affordable housing, the affordable housing in-lieu fee increased from $3-$5 per habitable square foot to $15-$18, depending on project density.
• Increasing the on-site affordable housing requirement for ownership housing from 7.5% to 10% of the units, targeting moderate income while retaining the lower requirement of 7.5% of units for high-density ownership projects due to concern over feasibility.
• Reducing the on-site rental housing requirement option from 7.5% to 6% of the units to require units for both low—and very low-income households.
• Allowing a reduced fee for projects of less than nine units in order not to disincentive the development of small-scale infill projects.
• Allowing the developer to choose their method of compliance, including the following options:

• • on-site affordable units
  • off-site affordable units
  • paying an affordable housing in-lieu fee
  • proposing alternate plans

Subsequently, on April 11, 2023, the City adopted amendments to further its efforts to support and enhance affordable housing production by increasing the affordable housing requirements for new residential construction projects creating two or more dwelling units. The updates were based on findings from a feasibility study conducted in 2021 to ensure that the affordable housing requirements imposed by the AHO do not constrain development and displacement in the community. The AHO was updated as follows:

• Increased minimum onsite affordable housing requirements from 10% of units servicing moderate-income households to 12% serving low-income and moderate-income households (50/50 split)
• Increased the affordable housing in-lieu fees for existing development types by 8.4%
• Added Lower-Density Ownership Housing as a new development type set at a rate of $26 per habitable square foot if paid before permit issuance.

The City of Hayward has established an ordinance to promote the development and preservation of affordable housing units. The AHO has been a vital tool for creating affordable housing by establishing inclusionary units within market-rate development and securing dedicated funding to subsidize affordable housing development in Hayward. The AHO requires that, at the minimum, inclusionary rental units be deed-restricted in perpetuity to eligible very low- and low-income households and that inclusionary ownership units be deed-restricted in perpetuity to eligible low and moderate-income households. Furthermore, the AHO is critical in addressing the City’s housing needs and ensuring compliance with state and federal requirements such as the Regional Housing Needs Assessment. The City seeks to develop a comprehensive set of Policy and Procedure Guidelines to ensure the AHO’s effective and equitable implementation.

Additional information regarding the City of Hayward may be obtained at: http://www.hayward-ca.gov