Affordable Housing Program (AHP)

• In the early stage of the development process, developers will typically meet with the Planning and Building Department to discuss a potential residential project. At that time, the developer will be informed of whether the proposed project triggers the Affordable Housing Program (AHP) Ordinance.
• The developer is encouraged to contact the project manager in the Economic and Development Housing Department (EDH) responsible for the implementation of the AHP Ordinance to discuss program requirements.
• The proposed residential project is processed for planning entitlements through the Planning Division. After the project is granted its Conditions of Approval from the Planning Commission, the developer has paid all the required fees, and the project is approved by the City Council, the Affordability Agreement preparation process will commence.
• An Affordability Agreement contains the specific covenants with respect to the inclusion of below market rate (BMR) units within a specific project. The agreement is entered into between the city and the developer / owner of the project. The Affordability Agreement must be approved by the City Council and fully executed prior to the developer being allowed to pull building permits.
• The EDH project manager will contact the developer after project approvals to begin Affordability Agreement discussions and preparation of a draft agreement. This phase typically takes two to four months from initial discussions through the City Council approval of the Affordability Agreement.
• Project building permits may be pulled after approval and execution of the Affordability Agreement, and the project construction must commence.
• Approximately 5 months prior to the completion of construction, the developer is required to submit for the city's review and approval the BMR Unit Marketing and Sales Plan (for ownership projects) and BMR Unit Marketing and Leasing Plan (for rental projects).
• The AHP Program project manager is required to inspect and sign off on the temporary and final Certificate of Occupancy for the project with respect to the BMR units.
• City housing staff are involved in monitoring the developer's successful completion of the marketing and sales or lease of the BMR units.

AHP Developer Process Flowchart(PNG, 30KB)

Affordable Unit Requirement

Developers are required to set aside 20% of total project units as designated below market rates (BMRs) for moderate-income households.

For ownership residential projects partially in Emeryville, 20% of the total project units in Emeryville shall be set-aside units or 10% of all the units in the project shall be set aside with those units located in Emeryville, whichever is greater. In applying these percentage, any decimal fraction less than or equal to 0.50 may be disregarded and any decimal fraction greater than 0.50 shall be construed as requiring one dwelling unit.

Developers of projects requiring development bonuses must set aside project units as designated BMRs for very low-income households, low-income households, and moderate-income households in accordance with Section 9-4.204 (d)(1) of the Planning Regulations.

Resale Requirements

Emeryville imposes a resale condition for a minimum period of forty-five (45) years which start over with each resale. The resale restriction agreement limits the resale price of the affordable unit to the lesser of a bona fide offer to purchase or the maximum affordable resale price affordable to a moderate-income household or median income household, as applicable.   Visit the Compliance & Resource Tab to view a sample resale restriction agreement and Resale Marketing Guidelines. 

Affordability Requirements

For ownership residential projects, housing costs shall generally mean the monthly mortgage principal and interest, property taxes and assessments, homeowners insurance, homeowner association fees where applicable, an allowance for utilities and property maintenance, and repairs. Visit the Compliance & Resource Tab to view the maximum affordable sales price and income requirements within the current Affordable Housing Table.

Set-Aside Requirements

Developers shall pay affordable housing impact fees to mitigate the project's impact on the need for affordable housing in the City or may instead provide on-site rental affordable units.

For on-site rental units, the developer shall set aside 12% of total project units as designated BMRs, of which 4% of total project units shall be designated as BMRs for very low-income households and 8% of total project units shall be designated as BMRs for low-income households. In applying these percentages, any decimal fraction less than or equal to 0.50 may be disregarded and any decimal fraction greater than 0.50 shall be construed as requiring one dwelling unit.

Developers of projects requiring development bonuses must set aside project units as designated BMRs for very low-income households, low-income households, and moderate-income households in accordance with Section 9-4.204 (d)(1) of the Planning Regulations.

Development Requirements

• All rental affordable units in a project and phases of a project should be constructed concurrently with or prior to the construction of non-affordable units, unless the city determines that extenuating circumstances exist.
• All rental affordable units shall be occupied by moderate, low, or very low-income households.
• Rental affordable units shall be dispersed throughout the development, the mix and type of rental affordable units shall be proportionate to those of the project as a whole and shall be comparable with the design of the base level market rate units prior to purchaser-funded upgrades in terms of appearance, materials, and quality of finishes.
• Parking designated for the rental affordable units shall be provided in an equitable manner as that provided for the market rate units

Marketing Requirements

• The developer shall market the rental affordable units to eligible renters throughout the duration of the Affordable Housing Agreement. No less than one hundred twenty (120) days prior to the initial lease up of the affordable units, the developer shall provide the City, for its review and approval, a marketing program for the affordable units, which shall be in conformance with the City’s affordable unit marketing program procedures.
• During the initial lease up of the affordable units, the developer shall market the affordable units commencing upon approval of the marketing program by the City for a period of time no less than one hundred twenty (120) days after the date of the City’s issuance of the certificate of occupancy for the project. The City, in its sole discretion, may require the developer to extend its marketing efforts for an additional sixty (60) day period increment.
• On an annual basis, in coordination with its obligations to income certify occupants of affordable units, the developer shall review and revise, as necessary and as approved by the City, its marketing program in order to maintain conformance with the City’s procedures or otherwise respond to market conditions. 
• The developer shall advertise the initial availability of affordable units to the Emeryville general public. The developer shall seek qualified renters through a process involving community outreach and broad marketing efforts, an application submittal, a lottery, and application review and processing.
• The developer or owner shall retain final discretion in the selection of the eligible households; provided, that the same rental terms and conditions (except rent levels and income) are applied to tenants of affordable units as are applied to all other tenants, except as required to comply with government subsidy programs.

Affordability

For rental housing projects, housing costs include monthly rent and an allowance for utilities, fees, or service charges charged to all tenants. Visit the AHP Compliance & Resource Tab to view the Affordable Housing Table which illustrates the current maximum rent and income limits.

Rental Residential Projects

Rental residential projects shall pay affordable housing impact fees to mitigate the project’s impact on the need for affordable housing in the City, unless the applicant elects to provide on-site rental affordable units consistent with Section9-5.407, or is granted a development bonus for the provision of on-site affordable housing pursuant to Section9-4.204 or a density bonus for the provision of on-site affordable housing pursuant to Article 5 of this chapter.

Non-Residential Projects

Nonresidential projects shall pay affordable housing impact fees to mitigate the project’s impact on the need for affordable housing in the City.

Current Development Impact Fees

Unless otherwise prohibited by law, affordable rental housing units developed under the Affordable Housing Program shall give a preference in the leasing of Below Market Rate (BMR) units to those who currently live and work in the City of Emeryville or have Household members who currently attend Emeryville Unified School District (EUSD) schools or the Emeryville Child Development Center (ECDC).

Monitoring & Compliance

The City contracts with Hello Housing to provide annual monitoring for the affordable ownership and rental units constructed under the Affordable Housing Program to ensure compliance with the regulatory agreement. If you have questions regarding the compliance of Rental or Ownership Units within the Affordable Housing Program portfolio, please email emeryville@hellohousing.org. 

Annual Report(s)

The city is to submit an annual report to the City Council on the status of the affordable units constructed under Affordable Housing Program. The report shall include the number, size, type, tenure, and general location of the affordable units as well as the number of resales and rental vacancy rate.  

2024 AHP Annual Report(PDF, 4MB)

AHP Resource Documents

Rental Program Guidelines(PDF, 707KB)

Ownership Program Guidelines(PDF, 46KB)

Homeownership Marketing Guidelines(PDF, 204KB)

2025 Affordable Housing Table(PDF, 147KB)

Sample Ownership Resale Restriction Agreement(PDF, 44KB)

Sample Rental Affordable Housing Agreement(PDF, 70KB)