Opportunity Zones (OZ) is now permanent, including substantial changes focused on expanding program access for lower-income communities and rural communities. It can be a powerful tool for states, regions, counties, and cities to attract investment for real estate and businesses, jumpstart local economic growth, and build housing. Governments and regional economic development groups can employ a variety of strategies to attract capital and projects. In a crowded and competitive field, regions that are bullish on OZ need to be visible and differentiate themselves. This session will discuss the major changes to the OZ program and effective approaches for governments and public-private partnerships to benefit from the OZ tool.
Explore Other Past Sessions:
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The Long Beach Housing Promise
Long Beach is taking an unusually coordinated approach to housing affordability: the City of Long Beach, Long Beach City College, Cal State Long Beach, and Long Beach Unified School District...
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Creative Financing Tools: Making the Numbers Work for Housing and Infrastructure
This panel will dive into how creative financing tools like EIFDs, CRIAs, Mello-Roos, and other tax-increment financing districts are being used to move housing and infrastructure projects forward despite limited...
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Legacy Village: A Collaborative Blueprint for Workforce, Student, and Affordable Living
In today’s urban landscape, housing development projects often juggle competing priorities: affordability, economic revitalization, resident needs, sustainability, and community equity. But what happens when these goals are not siloed, but...
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Maximizing Impact — Stretching Public Resources Through Innovative Housing Partnerships
As California faces mounting housing and infrastructure needs amid finite public resources, agencies across the state are exploring new ways to do more with less. This session highlights innovative partnerships...
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Partnerships and Alternative Funding Pathways for Housing Solutions
Delivering affordable housing at scale increasingly requires creativity beyond traditional public funding sources. This session explores how local governments and housing agencies are forging innovative partnerships and leveraging alternative financing...
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Innovative Procurement Options for Delivering on Your Housing Needs - Utilizing Public Private Partnerships and Other Alternative Delivery Options
Join industry leaders for breakfast and an interactive conversation specifically tailored to the needs of owners. This pre-conference session is designed for those beginning to explore alternative delivery structures to...
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California Housing 2025: Market Realities, Policy Pivots, and Pathways Forward
This research-driven session will deliver essential market intelligence on California’s housing landscape — examining current conditions and future directions. Our expert panel will present data-driven insights on affordability trends, supply...
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Unlock the Keys to Workforce Housing Success!
Join leaders from Santa Barbara County, City Ventures, and Harris & Associates to explore strategies for effective planning, zoning, and incentives. Learn how to craft policies and partnerships that drive...
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The Fair Housing Act and the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule
This panel will provide a brief history of the Fair Housing Act and related laws. The discussion will focus on the changing landscape for local agencies associated with the obligation...
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Self-Development for Public Housing Authorities
As public housing authorities (PHAs) face increasing demand for affordable housing, many are exploring self-development as a strategy to take control of their housing portfolios and deliver transformative community solutions....
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The "One Big Beautiful Bill": Navigating the 4% LIHTC & 50% Test Changes
Join our expert panel for a deep dive into the sweeping changes to the 4% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program and the crucial 50% test reduction. This new legislation,...
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Stronger Together: Funding Resilience and Regional Housing Strategies in Uncertain Times
As federal and state housing funds become more volatile, jurisdictions across California are rethinking how they fund, implement, and sustain affordable housing programs. This session explores how cities can strengthen...
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Resident Relocation and Its Key Role in Public and Private Redevelopment Projects
Resident relocation plays a critical role in public and private affordable housing redevelopment. The panel will present and discuss different types of relocation, the impact on residents before, during, and...
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Reimagining a Municipal Hospital Campus to Reflect the Evolution of Community Health Needs
The premise of this session is that community development can sometimes be best accomplished by opening the process to all comers and all project types, governed by a set of...
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Regional Housing Trusts as Catalysts for Local Housing Development Impact
Housing trust funds are powerful vehicles for advancing affordable housing solutions that are locally tailored, collaborative, and scalable. This workshop brings together leaders from five housing trusts spanning Los Angeles,...
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Workforce Housing as Essential Infrastructure: Building Sustainable Communities and Economies
Workforce and attainable housing are more than just housing policy—they are mission-critical components of a functioning society. This session explores why creating new housing for the middle-income workforce is vital...
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Beyond Housing First...Community First
Join us to hear from experts in the Community First world where campus-style developments are taking Housing First to its natural next evolution. Community First is essentially Housing First with...
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Policy to Practice: Partnering for Effective Encampment Resolution
California communities are under growing pressure to respond to encampments in a way that is humane, effective, and legally sound. This conversation will explore how state and local leaders can...
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Doing More With Less: Tackling LA’s Housing Crisis Amid Shrinking Resources
California’s worsening budget shortfall and federal government retrenchment are creating new pressures for Los Angeles’ housing landscape. This conversation will explore how city leaders can creatively deploy financing tools, partnerships,...
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Did We Expand Opportunities for the Public and Private Sector to Work Together over the Last Year? Did We Develop and Build More Housing?
This panel will highlight public and private sector progress that created, expanded and tested public/private partnerships over the last year to accelerate housing development. Panelists will talk about successful projects...
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Designing Connectivity: The Village at Montclair Station and the Future of Transit-Oriented Placemaking
The Village at Montclair Station exemplifies how thoughtful urban design and collaborative planning can transform a transit-adjacent site into a vibrant, connected community. Situated on 6.7 acres next to the...
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Building Value, Not Just Units: Smarter Delivery for Affordable Housing
Southern California’s affordable pipeline faces high per-unit costs and funding gaps, making delivery strategy as decisive as capital stack. Early Contractor Engagement (ECE) brings trade intelligence into programming and schematic...
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How to Mobilize Now to Capitalize on Opportunity Zones 2.0
Opportunity Zones (OZ) is now permanent, including substantial changes focused on expanding program access for lower-income communities and rural communities. It can be a powerful tool for states, regions, counties,...
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Breaking the Deadlock: Reworking Projects When the Original Plan No Longer Works
With rising construction costs, shifting interest rates, strained tax credit allocations, and extended entitlement timelines, many affordable housing projects that once penciled now sit stalled. This panel explores how developers,...
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Beyond LIHTC: Innovative Financing Strategies to Expand Affordable Housing
As California’s housing crisis continues to outpace traditional funding solutions, innovative financing programs are emerging to fill the gap. This session examines how the California Municipal Finance Authority (CMFA) has...
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Aligning Development with Operational Realities
The success of an affordable housing project doesn’t end at lease-up; it lives or dies by long-term operations. Yet too often, property management and asset management teams are brought in...
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Affordable Housing Trends: Market Competitiveness, Growth, and Future Outlook
As the affordable housing landscape evolves, how does it compare to market-rate properties in areas around the state? We will dive into the latest trends and data, including rent competitiveness,...
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Accelerating California Housing: A Deep Dive into the Latest Legislative Reforms
Join us as we explore the sweeping legislative changes reshaping California’s environmental and housing landscape. With the passage of AB 130 and SB 131, Governor Newsom has ushered in transformative...
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Beyond Chatbots: AI That Transform Affordable Housing Finance and Underwriting
Affordable housing teams don’t need another chatbot. They need time -time to collect, collate, coordinate and underwrite, to deliver homes faster. AI can now give time back to all parties...
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Affordable Housing Conversion Calm or Chaos: Controlling the Means to Convert to Perm?
As affordable housing deals with agency, HUD and other perm conversions options get more complicated in their capital stack and in the specific populations they target, there is higher scrutiny...
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The People Behind the Projects: Recruiting, Retaining, and Growing Talent
Behind every successful affordable or workforce housing project are the people who make it happen. Yet across California, the sector faces an urgent challenge: attracting, developing, and retaining the next...
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A Guide to Credit Ratings for Public Housing and CDFIs
Join us for an informative session where we explore the role of credit ratings, credit risk research, and benchmarks in supporting Public Housing Authorities and CDFIs. Our discussion will be...
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Housing Law Jeopardy!
In recent years, the laws impacting how local jurisdictions can and cannot control housing development have changed in numerous ways. Using a Jeopardy! game show format, learn about recent changes...
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