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Housing Constraints Draft Housing Element 3-3 region have fallen in real terms. The failure of wages to keep pace with local price increases may contribute to the challenges and delays in attracting labor reported by developers and builders.9 Housing construction costs can affect affordability as increases in costs are borne by buyers and renters. Rising construction prices may also impact the ability or desire of single-family homeowners to construct ADUs. Therefore, higher construction costs can be a constraint to the development of all housing types. The City will implement programs to reduce barriers to housing development, including ADU development, as described in Chapter 6, Housing Plan, to help offset impacts of high construction costs. The City will also meet with labor groups at least once annually to discuss the ways in which the City can support an adequate supply of labor to build housing. 3.1.2 Land Costs Land costs affect the feasibility of residential development. The land prices depend on location, zoning (allowable density), availability of improvements, current use of the site, and whether the site is vacant or has an existing use that will need to be removed or converted to accommodate future residential development. Available improvements can consist of improvements to streets, sidewalks, water and sewer, drainage, curbs and gutters, street signs, park dedications, utility easements, and landscaping. Improvement standards establish infrastructure or site requirements to support new residential development. While these improvements are necessary to ensure that new housing meets the local jurisdiction’s development goals, the cost of these requirements can represent a significant share of the cost of producing new housing.10 Additionally, land costs depend on whether the site is vacant or has an existing use that will need to be removed or converted. Most available sites for residential uses in San Leandro are developed with improvements that will need to be demolished or converted for residential development to take place. Land costs and value are difficult to average on a citywide basis as land value is assessed based on the characteristics unique to each property. In addition, environmental constraints can also impact the cost of land. Measure D, administered by the Alameda County Planning Department in 2000, established a countywide urban growth boundary and discouraged the annexation of rural open space for future residential development by Alameda County’s 14 cities.11 Measure D limits San Leandro’s ability to grow outwardly and to expand housing to the vacant land lying northeast of San Leandro.12 Because fewer vacant land options exist, San Leandro’s growth focuses on redevelopment of existing sites, which are developed with existing infrastructure that would need to be demolished or converted before new development can occur. Demolition costs can add to the overall project cost. However, nonvacant land may offer cost-saving benefits such as existing utility connections. 3.1.3 Availability of Financing Financing in the housing market includes federal, State, and local funding for affordable housing, capital used by developers for initial site preparation and construction; and capital used by homeowners and investors to finance the purchase of housing units. The City will explore ways to 9 The Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley. 2020. Available: https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/wp- content/uploads/pdfs/Hard_Construction_Costs_March_2020.pdf. Accessed December 1, 2021 10 California Department of Housing and Community Development. 2021. Available: https://www.hcd.ca.gov/community- development/building-blocks/constraints/codes-and-enforcement-on-offsite-improvement-standards.shtml.Accessed October 27, 2021 11 Alameda County Community Development Agency. 2019. Available: http://www.acgov.org/board/bos_calendar/documents/DocsAgendaPlan_10_29_19/5MeasureD.pdf. Accessed November 10, 2021. 12 Alameda County Community Development Agency. 2010. Available: https://acgov.org/cda/planning/documents/12_APPJ- ReferenceMaps.pdf. Accessed November 10, 2021.