Mayor Darrell Steinberg is calling for ideas from developers on how what it will take to build 1,000 efficient homes in Sacramento over the next two years.
The mayor wants each of 300 to 400 square foot housing units to have solid roof, door, plumbing and electricity.
Modular homes, manufactured homes, pods, stacked unites, container units inside warehouses and tiny homes are just a few of the variations of efficient home ideas the Mayor mentioned.
Steinberg proposed using $21 million in project based housing vouchers to fund the new housing opportunities.
“We simply cannot wait for the conventional affordable housing process to get us started,” Steinberg said.
The Mayor plans to issue a request for information next month. He will also ask the City Council and the County Board of Supervisors to make a selection by spring.
“We will encourage and incentivize the applicants to partner with any and all of the nonprofits currently working on the efficiency home concepts,” Steinberg said.
A big question many may have is, where do you put the homes once they’re built?
The Mayor said he’ll ask developers to help answer that question but will point them toward more than 100 vacant city-owned lots totaling 4.5 million square feet.
Steinberg said he’ll not just stop at the $21 million of existing resources available as he’ll also seek a community-wide fundraising effort to raise $20 million to meet other housing needs in the community.
Sutter Health has already agreed to put forward $5 million to support housing if their offer is matched.