From Housing Goals to Homes
California has ambitious housing goals, a growing set of policy tools, and significant public and private resources. The challenge is turning those commitments into homes that are financially feasible, supported by communities, delivered effectively, and kept affordable over time.
The California Housing & Community Development Conference brings together public agency leaders, policymakers, housing authorities, developers, investors, lenders, and community partners to examine the decisions that move housing forward. Across five connected themes, the program looks at how California can set clear priorities, finance projects, put land and partnerships to work, deliver housing, and preserve it for the people and communities who depend on it.
What will it take to turn California’s housing goals into homes that can be financed, approved, built, preserved, and operated for the people who need them?
The program follows that question from start to finish: set direction, make projects feasible, open paths to production, deliver housing, and sustain it for residents.
Select a theme to jump to its sessions.
How do federal, state, and local policy and housing agency leadership shape what can get built?
A senior leader from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will open the conference with a federal perspective on the housing and community development issues shaping the field. The address will set the stage for two days of discussion among California's housing agencies, community leaders, developers, and partners.
Housing authority leaders from across California will discuss the challenges and opportunities shaping their agencies, from expanding and preserving affordable housing to serving residents and building effective public and private partnerships. This conversation will offer an executive perspective on local priorities and the strategies agencies are using to meet them.
This panel will cover the biggest housing developments of 2026, including the latest California housing legislation, the federal ROAD to Housing Act, recent guidance from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), and more. Panelists will also look ahead to what to expect in the legislative and regulatory landscape in 2027.
California has more tools and funding for affordable housing than ever, but turning them into homes at the pace the state needs is still a challenge. Developers, agency leaders, and state policymakers will discuss which approaches are working, where production is stalling, and what new resources and policy changes could help. Topics include putting state-owned land to work for housing and the impact of statewide housing measures on this November's ballot.
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 in California housing laws, with a focus on the Housing Accountability and Housing Crisis acts, density bonuses, accessory dwelling units, SB 9, and other housing law issues.
This presentation will focus on the evolving federal landscape with respect to rules regarding Fair Housing Act enforcement, local assistance, and challenges to California's own Fair Employment and Housing Act. It will also discuss recent challenges throughout California, as local agencies seek to preserve existing senior mobile home parks, consistent with the Fair Housing Act and through local zoning, to support this important form of unsubsidized affordable housing.
How can public resources, bonds, tax credits, ratings, private capital, and new financing approaches make more projects possible?
California's affordable housing goals cannot be met through policy alone. Closing the gap between policy ambitions and project feasibility will take public policy, private capital, and financial innovation working together. This executive session, led by the President and CEO of the California Community Reinvestment Corporation (CCRC), will examine the forces reshaping affordable housing finance, including production economics, the preservation of at-risk affordable homes, and the growing role of mission-driven lenders in attracting private investment. The session will also cover CCRC's public securitization of tax-exempt affordable housing loans and what this structure could mean for expanding lending capacity. Designed for senior housing, finance, and public sector leaders.
Current economic conditions are changing what housing projects can support. Using a real Los Angeles transit-oriented development pursuit as a reference, this discussion will examine how financing, market demand, and construction costs shape development decisions. Panelists will explore tradeoffs involving mixed-income projects, for-sale townhomes with affordable units, market-rate rentals, density and state incentives, and building types such as wood-frame construction over a concrete (Type I) podium. The conversation will consider when a project should adjust its unit mix, density, or building approach to better fit the market.
Join us for an informative session exploring the role of credit ratings, credit risk research, and benchmarks in supporting public housing authorities and CDFIs. Experienced analysts will offer guidance on how credit ratings and sustainable finance products can serve organizational objectives. The session is designed to deepen understanding of credit ratings and answer questions about applying these tools to meet development goals.
Affordable housing organizations are increasingly turning to the capital markets to finance and preserve housing. This discussion will bring together issuer, investor, rating agency, and underwriting perspectives on what makes housing credits attractive to the market. Panelists will explore credit fundamentals, disclosure practices, investor expectations, rating considerations, and financing structures that can strengthen market access and help lower borrowing costs.
Federal law has lowered the bond financing threshold for affordable rental projects seeking 4% Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, creating new opportunities and questions for California's affordable housing community. This panel will explain how the 25% test works, how it connects to California's private activity bond volume cap and the CDLAC allocation process, and what the change means for financing and delivering affordable housing. Public agencies, developers, lenders, and municipal advisors will discuss practical deal considerations and how to make limited bond authority go further.
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 expanded beyond LIHTC to create additional affordable housing opportunities. Speakers will discuss 501(c)(3) affordable housing financings, along with CMFA's Charitable Affordable Housing, Middle-Income Housing, and Recycled Bond programs, tools designed to drive housing production and affordability at scale.
Mixed-finance deals remain one of the most important tools for building and preserving affordable housing, but rising costs, complex capital stacks, and shifting federal resources make them harder to close. Housing authority, development, finance, and legal experts will share how they are structuring deals today and the new approaches that can keep projects moving forward.
How can public agencies, school districts, developers, and community partners put land and new housing approaches to work?
Public agencies play a central role in getting affordable housing built, from land disposition and funding agreements to entitlements, procurement, and long-term compliance. This session will share practical lessons on structuring and managing affordable housing projects so that agencies can move deals forward efficiently, reduce legal and financial risk, and protect the public investment over time.
In built-out communities where vacant land is scarce, public agencies and housing organizations often have to evaluate acquisition opportunities quickly and with limited information, including buying existing naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH) or market-rate properties and preserving affordability through long-term covenants. Drawing on the experience of two regional housing trusts, this workshop will share practical approaches to identifying, screening, and underwriting acquisition and development opportunities. It will include a demonstration of the San Gabriel Valley Regional Housing Trust's Site Acquisition Evaluation Resource and a look at how AI tools can support feasibility analysis and due diligence. Attendees will leave with strategies for focusing limited staff and financial resources on the most promising opportunities.
LAUSD and its partners are exploring how district-owned sites can help meet the need for employee housing. This discussion will cover the initiative's approach to site selection, financing, affordability, and partnerships, along with lessons other school districts can apply to their own land.
Workforce housing for teachers, first responders, and other middle-income households often falls between the gaps of traditional affordable and market-rate financing. This panel will look at the tools and policy changes that can help close that gap, including construction defect liability reform, CEQA streamlining, current development and financing tools, and public-agency structures such as joint powers authority (JPA) models, along with the legal questions they have raised.
Teachers, nurses, first responders and skilled trades workers earn too much for subsidized housing and too little for the single-family homes in their communities, and they need two or three bedrooms, not a studio. New research from San Diego and Los Angeles shows that eliminating minimum lot sizes on single-family parcels can produce family-sized, fee-simple townhomes priced an average of 42% below surrounding single-family homes, with no public subsidy, while generating new property tax revenue for cities, counties and schools. This panel will present the findings, debate the policy choices that keep homes family-sized and feasible, and outline how other California cities can apply the model. Attendees will leave with a tested policy framework, a feasibility screen for their own jurisdictions, and a fiscal argument built for elected officials.
What helps teams navigate environmental review, construction choices, procurement, and the cost and coordination challenges that can stall projects?
Getting housing built takes more than securing an approval. It requires sustained community support and effective coalitions. This panel will look at the practical work of engaging residents, mobilizing supporters, and working through local approval processes. Using Fourth & Central as a case study, the discussion will explore how neighborhood groups, housing advocates, environmental organizations, businesses, service providers, and faith leaders built a coalition around a project. The panel will focus on practical strategies for moving projects from proposal to construction and keeping engagement constructive and solution-oriented.
Housing projects in California may need to navigate both federal environmental review under NEPA and state review under CEQA. This panel will examine how the two processes affect projects that rely on HUD funding, including where requirements overlap, where they differ, and how teams can coordinate reviews effectively. Environmental practitioners and public agency leaders will discuss due diligence, historic preservation, floodplain review, agency coordination, and common issues that can delay financing and construction. The session will conclude with an interactive Q&A.
Industrialized construction is increasingly being proposed as a way to deliver housing more efficiently, but public officials need a clear understanding of these approaches before evaluating a project. This educational session will explain industrialized construction methods, how they differ from traditional delivery, and what public agencies should consider when assessing them. The primer will be followed by a discussion with an owner about why they chose this approach, what worked or proved challenging, and what they would do again.
This panel follows the delivery process from site selection and feasibility through funding, permitting, modular construction, and neighbor engagement. It will also cover launch operations, supportive services, and transitions to permanent housing, including how Housing Choice Vouchers support ongoing operations. Panelists will discuss common delays, such as funding timelines, permitting bottlenecks, and community opposition, and how partners can address them. Attendees will get a practical view of how agencies, developers, contractors, philanthropy, and service providers can divide the work.
Factory-built housing promises greater efficiency, but those savings do not always translate into lower total development costs. Drawing on a 146-unit modular project in San Francisco and a 172-unit modular project in San José, this session will bring together perspectives from a funder, an affordable housing developer, and a factory-built housing partner. Speakers will examine what affects costs across the development process, including repeatable project pipelines, standardized design, financing and procurement timing, coordination between factory and field work, and how to measure savings based on total installed cost and schedule. Attendees will leave with a practical framework for evaluating cost containment strategies and understanding when factory-built approaches can support more affordable housing.
A project's capital structure can shape what gets built, how quickly it moves, and what it costs. Drawing on examples from developers using alternative delivery models, this session will examine how public-private partnerships, philanthropic and other private equity, factory-built construction, and fewer funding sources can affect project scale and delivery. Panelists will discuss where these approaches offer advantages, where savings or speed are harder to achieve, and how site conditions and regulatory requirements affect the outcome.
Build America, Buy America (BABA) requirements can affect affordable housing project funding, procurement, and construction. This roundtable will bring together perspectives from an affordable housing compliance specialist, a general contractor experienced in BABA-compliant construction, and a public housing authority or Moving to Work agency that administers federal funds. Using real project examples, panelists will discuss how to determine whether BABA applies, understand relevant funding and obligation dates, plan procurement, document compliance, use de minimis provisions, avoid common pitfalls, and navigate waivers. The discussion will also address emerging federal guidance and what it could mean for PHAs and their development partners. Attendees will leave with practical steps for assessing BABA requirements and planning projects.
How can California protect existing affordable housing, improve operations, and respond to the needs of people experiencing homelessness, older adults, and residents navigating complex housing programs?
Asset management is changing fast, as agencies and owners face aging portfolios, tighter budgets, and growing expectations for performance and accountability. Panelists from HUD, California housing authorities, and the private sector will discuss the tools, data, and strategies that are helping them protect long-term asset value, improve operations, and better serve residents.
Compliance remains one of the most time-consuming parts of owning and operating affordable housing, with layered program requirements, frequent audits, and tenant files spread across systems and agencies. This session will look at where the current process breaks down and how new technology can simplify income certifications, reporting, and monitoring. It will also cover what agencies, owners, and property managers can do now to reduce risk and free up staff time.
Street homelessness crosses city and county boundaries, so this session makes the case for planning, funding, and building interim housing regionally. It will explain functional zero as having enough interim housing capacity that no one needs to sleep outside, then show how a county and city can work together to size the need, identify land, align funding, and bring beds online. Attendees will leave with a framework for assessing their region's shelter gap and the roles needed to close it.
This panel will explore the Bakersfield Senior Center and Affordable Apartments project through the perspectives of the county housing authority, the senior center, and the project's design team. Speakers will share the project's goals, how the partners worked together, and lessons from bringing affordable housing and senior services together.
Older adults need more than an affordable home. They need housing that can remain stable and workable as their incomes, health, and support needs change. This panel will examine how senior housing finance, public benefits, care and service partnerships, and changing economic conditions affect older adults' ability to remain housed. Lenders, housing providers, public agencies, and service leaders will discuss practical ways to pair affordability with support, the barriers to financing those models, and what California communities can do to expand options for aging in place.
Join public agency leaders, housing authorities, developers, investors, lenders, and community partners in Los Angeles this December.
Sessions, titles, and descriptions are subject to change as the program is finalized.
Exhibit at the Conference
Meet housing authorities, public agencies, developers and housing decision-makers face to face. Exhibit spaces sit in the conference's networking areas, with registration passes and attendee list access included.
Standard
$3,500
Premium
$4,500