A new city planning initiative aims to add affordable housing development near mass transit, but some real estate insiders question whether it does enough to entice market-rate builders. The Los Angeles Department of City Planning released the official Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) Affordable Housing Incentive Program Guidelines on Sept. 22. The new rules aim to streamline the development process and incentivize affordable housing development by implementing a section of Measure JJJ, which was passed by voters in Nov. 2016. Roughly 20 applications have been submitted since the guidelines were released. Experts predict the TOC program will be most effective at increasing the scale of affordable projects. Whether it does enough to bring market-rate developers into the affordable housing business — which experts say is essential to tackle the housing crisis — is less certain.
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