Above Photo: The South Bay Regional Housing Trust unveiled its new logo design. 

It started as a proposed tool to help South Bay cities meet the requirements of the state’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). RHNA mandates that every local jurisdiction ensures there are enough sites appropriately zoned for affordable housing construction to accommodate projected growth calculated by the state every eight years.

Following a year of analyses on how a trust could work, in late April the South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG) received council approval from 11 cities—El Segundo, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Lawndale, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills Estates and Torrance—to form a joint powers authority to create a South Bay Regional Housing Trust (SBRHT). The SBRHT officially launched on April 30 with the installation of a board of directors comprised of council representatives from each member city.

“Our city [Lawndale] is less than 2 square miles. Our RHNA allocation for the current cycle was 2,500 units. We’re densely populated with about 3,200 residents—very park [recreational green space] poor and those requirements are just a burden,” said Bernadette Suarez, Lawndale council member, SBRHT board member and SBCCOG board chair. “By joining the South Bay Regional Housing Trust, our cities, including my city of Lawndale, can benefit from a coordinated, regional approach to housing production and homeless services, while explicitly maintaining full control over local land-use decisions.”

The SBRHT will help fund the development and construction of affordable housing units in cities that are members of the trust, exclusively for projects supported by the city in which they are proposed.

Measure A as a Funding Source
The SBCCOG will be receiving approximately $7.9 million annually through the Los Angeles County Affordable Solutions Agency’s (LACAHSA) Production, Preservation and Ownership program. The LACAHSA also has agency matching funds that potentially could be available to increase that amount to nearly $14 million. The SBCCOG will be transferring these funds each year to the SBRHT.

Additional Benefits of the SBRHT 
The SBRHT will have lending authority and will generate interest revenue to allow for these public dollars to come back to the trust over time and be reprogrammed to maximize their use. •

To learn more visit sbrht.org

Read about the SBRHT’s first funding commitment.