On Friday, June 2nd, the BIA Baldy View Chapter hosted its 4th Annual Housing Policy Conference in Ontario at the Double Tree Hotel & Convention Center from 9am to 1pm. The event consisted of three discussion panels and a keynote speech given by Ben Metcalf, California Housing & Community Development, Director. Over 300 people attended the event, including many of the region’s elected officials and business leaders.
What would it take to make San Bernardino County housing affordable?
By FIELDING BUCK | The Press-Enterprise
The shortage of affordable housing is a looming threat to San Bernardino County, real estate experts heard Friday.
The fourth annual Housing Policy Conference was a call to action from a builders trade group to developers and city leaders.
Ben Metcalf, director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development
Lack of housing supply costs the state economy more than $133 billion annually, and factoring in housing costs makes California’s poverty rate the highest in the nation, said Ben Metcalf, director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development and the event’s lunchtime keynote speaker.
CLICK HERE to read full article.
Ali Sahabi
BIA President, 2017
BIABV President Ali Sahabi addresses the audience to set the stage for an in-depth discussion on the Federal, State, Regional and Local policies challenges facing the homebuilding industry. San Bernardino County has the 9th highest home overcrowding rate in the state and has produced significantly less housing units over the past decade than neighboring counties (LA, OC, Riverside). Baldy View Chapter CEO, Carlos Rodriguez gave a housing market overview and moderated a panel discuss with homebuilders to discuss how we can bring San Bernardino County out of its sever housing shortage.
Additional discussion panels included a Federal Policy Overview with Congressman Pete Aguilar and a discussion on Zero Net Energy in Homebuilding, presented by Southern California Edison.
Program Speakers
Keynote
- Ben Metcalf, California Housing & Community Development
Opening And Closing Remarks
- Ali Sahabi Bia Baldy View Chapter President
- Supervisor Robert Lovingood, Chairman
- Supervisor Curt Hagman, Vice-Chair
State/Local Policy Overview
- Randall Lewis, Lewis M.C.
- Mark Torres Lennar Homes
- Jeff Pemstein, CBIA President
Federal Policy Overview
- Pete Aguilar, Congressman, CA 35th District
- Lake Coulson, NAHB Vice President of Government Affairs
Zero Net Energy & Homebuilding (presented by SCE)
- Rob Hammon, PHD, BIRA Energy
- Ram Narayanamurthy, EPRI
- CR Herro, VP Of Environmental Affairs, Meritage Homes
- Randall Higa, Southern California Edison
Conference Resource Materials:
Click to download the full report
California's Housing Future: Challenges and Opportunities
“I don’t want you all crying into your salad, but I’ve got to just hit this home. … There are direct and immediate consequences of this [housing] supply shortage. And they translate very painfully all the way up and down the economic spectrum and all the way across west, east, north and south of the state. But where we see people hurting the most is in our lower-income working families.”
-Ben Metcalf, Director of California’s Housing and Community Development
