Affordable housing lost a big source of funding when California folded its redevelopment agencies. An increase in the fee developers pay when building new projects is in an effort to fill that sizable void.
The linkage fee (we call it the “affordable housing fee”) was introduced in 1990 — then set at 1.5 percent of all construction costs — but was downgraded in 1996. Earlier this month, the City Council voted to kick it back up to 1.5 percent of current construction costs. That means it’s about a 500 percent increase.
NBC 7’s Catherine Garcia and Voice of San Diego reporter Andrew Keatts show what that means for big developers and the low-income families who are set to benefit from as many as 100 new housing units every year.