BUILDERS CARRY ON DESPITE PANDEMIC HOA DEVELOPMENTS AMONG MOST COMMON IN CALIFORNIA.
By Lynette Bertrand, Communications Manager, CACM
C
alifornia’s housing shortage was substantial heading into 2020. Not enough houses were being built, and that hasn’t changed with the arrival of the pandemic early this year. Builders say, if anything, COVID brought this challenge more to the light and fast. “Now people are having to use their homes as an office and school. That’s certainly had people looking at their current situation and questioning whether it’s appropriate,” said Eric Nelson, Vice President-Community Development for Trumark Homes. “People living in more urban centers are looking outward. Does it make sense to move out of the city for more elbow room and a bigger unit? That’s a direct result of COVID.” Nelson said that new housing development didn’t slow down, but rather picked up this year despite COVID and the ensuing financial crisis. “You may not see it on the ground, but the
amount of projects we’re pursuing through approvals is at an all-time high. At Trumark, at least,” he said. “We have a lot of projects.
Does it make sense to move out of the city for more elbow room and a bigger unit? That’s a direct result of COVID. Most are infill locations where you take old sites and repurpose them. That’s really where you are going to see more push in housing in California—it’s in infill.” Steven LaMotte, chapter executive officer for Orange County for the Building Industry Association, agreed. “I’m on multiple city council meetings where developments have been approved. It’s good news. There’s the push to go to more suburban areas. In Orange County,
we’re still considered suburban. They want homes and space. “The majority are infill projects done in more mature cities,” he added. “We’re moving more towards an infill environment.”
INFILL IS WHERE IT’S AT Infill is defined as filling in a small site in a mature, developed area as opposed to large swaths of land in outer areas like the Inland Empire. Part of the reason infill has become popular is that California has made it hard to push outward. Sprawl is expensive, and developers say the exorbitant cost takes the incentive away for them to go out into the edges of the state like the desert. “We have several projects that are old rundown shopping centers or industrial sites that we’re converting into housing,” Nelson said. “You’ll see old parts of areas being revitalized, and housing will be the key metrics to do that. Even school districts CONTINUES ON PAGE 44
cacm.org | Vision Fall 2020
43
