Affordable housing built in Santa Monica over the past fiscal year outpaced the city's minimum requirements by a wide margin, according to a new report presented to the City Council, even as the number of affordable units awaiting construction approval showed a smaller share of low-income units.
The report, dated June 17 and submitted by Aileen Reynolds, the city's director of Housing and Human Services, found that 81% of the 72 multifamily residences completed in fiscal year 2024-25 were affordable to low- and moderate-income households, and 25% were affordable specifically to low-income households. Both figures far exceed the thresholds set by Proposition R, the 1990 voter-approved measure that requires 30% of new multifamily housing to be affordable to low- and moderate-income residents, with half of that — 15% of all new units — reserved for low-income households.
The five completed projects included a 56-unit, 100% affordable mixed-use development at 711 Colorado Ave., along with smaller condominium and apartment buildings on 17th Street, Franklin Street, 10th Street and Bay Street.
The report, required annually, also tracked housing still in the pipeline. Of 927 multifamily units under construction citywide, 321 were affordable — 35% affordable to low- and moderate-income households and 25% to low-income households, both above the Proposition R thresholds.
Housing awaiting planning approval told a different story. The 14 multifamily developments approved during the fiscal year would bring 2,146 total units, including 367 affordable to low- and moderate-income households — 17% of the total, with 11% affordable to low-income households specifically. Those approved projects include a 24-story mixed-use tower at 601-609 Colorado Ave. and an 18-story mixed-use building at 1415-1437 5th St., along with a 100% affordable senior project at 1217 14th St. and a 100% affordable building at 1217 Euclid St.
The completed and under-construction totals mark a shift from the prior fiscal year. In FY 2023-24, the city reported 91 affordable residences completed and 243 under construction, according to that year's report to the council. The FY 2024-25 report shows completions dipping to 58 affordable units while construction activity rose to 321 affordable units, and affordable units in the planning pipeline jumped from 88 to 367.
Looking back over three decades, the city has completed 7,089 multifamily residences since Proposition R took effect, of which 2,512 — 35% — were affordable. Roughly 24% of all units built since 1994 have been affordable to very low- and low-income households, and the city has funded 1,560 of the affordable units, or 84%, according to the cumulative data included in the report. None of the units completed this past fiscal year relied on city funding.
The report also credited three pending city-owned sites, all with executed development and disposition agreements, as key to future affordable housing production: 1318 4th St. (122 residences), 1217 Euclid St. (48 residences) and 1211-1217 14th St. (82 residences).
City officials also pointed to a round of zoning and policy changes adopted during the fiscal year meant to streamline affordable housing development. Those included amendments to the city's General Plan and Zoning Ordinance under the city's 6th Cycle Housing Element, a streamlined architectural review process, a new ministerial approval process for housing in the Bergamot Area Plan, and an Adaptive Reuse Ordinance intended to encourage converting non-residential buildings to housing. The city also expanded flexibility for accessory dwelling units and adopted local implementing rules for several recent state housing laws, including SB 1211, which allows ADUs on multifamily-zoned lots, SB 9 and SB 450, which govern lot splits and duplexes on single-family lots, and SB 1123 and SB 684, which allow ministerial approval of small subdivisions.