Don't Exacerbate Our Housing Crisis- Vote No on Measure JJJ
November 1, 2016
by Gary Toebben
The Los Angeles Times says No on JJJ. The Daily News says No on JJJ. Why? Because there is broad consensus by those who have studied JJJ that this poorly crafted measure will do the opposite of what it purports to do by making it more costly to build housing that our city desperately needs.
Measure JJJ would apply to any residential construction in the City over 10 units that requires a general plan amendment. A study by Beacon Economics examined a 10-year history of permitted multi-family projects and found that 63.2 percent of the projects seeking an entitlement subject to this ballot measure were between 1-50 units. Thus, small developers will be the hardest hit by the increased costs mandated in Measure JJJ.
Other findings from the Beacon report include:
“Measure JJJ’s potential to drastically reduce residential construction would further accelerate increases in home prices and rents in L.A. To the extent projects are able to move forward incorporating these substantial costs, they will inevitably be passed along to residents of L.A. who already bear too high a cost for housing.”
“New residential development will be required to pay premium over-market wages for construction workers performing project work. Based on Beacon Economics, prevailing wages are almost double the market rate for wages across job classifications and will drive up total project costs 46 percent. This is an unprecedented requirement being imposed on privately-funded residential development.”
“Recent research shows that this type of zoning in California led to a 20 percent increase in housing costs and reduced residential production by 7 percent.”
“Measure JJJ will have the effect of stifling a valuable subset of residential construction, and make an already dire housing situation much worse.”
You can read the entire Beacon report here. Measure JJJ would be devastating to our housing supply and affordability. For the benefit of renters and homebuyers, I urge you to VOTE NO on MEASURE JJJ.
And that's The Business Perspective.
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