Meeting_Body
PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE
JULY 16, 2025
Subject
SUBJECT: JOINT DEVELOPMENT 10K COMMITMENT AND POLICY UPDATE
Action
ACTION: APPROVE RECOMMENDATION
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
CONSIDER:
A. RECEIVING AND FILING an update on the Board of Directors’ goal of producing 10,000 housing units through Metro’s Joint Development program and progress to date; and
B. ADOPTING the amended Joint Development Policy (Attachment A).
Issue
ISSUE
Joint Development (JD) staff have made notable progress on the Board of Directors’ (Board) ten-year goal of completing 10,000 housing units by 2031, of which at least 5,000 will be income-restricted (10K Commitment). Key process improvements have and will continue to facilitate accelerated housing production on Metro-owned sites for those who need it most. The purpose of this report is to provide an update on those efforts. Staff also recommend adopting the amended Joint Development Policy, which includes minor revisions and added language to align with certain State and Federal laws and regulations, allowing JD projects to move forward expeditiously under a programmatic exemption to the Surplus Land Act (SLA).
Background
BACKGROUND
Housing supply, affordability, and homelessness continue to remain prevalent issues in Los Angeles County. According to the California Housing Partnership (CHP), the County has a shortfall of 485,667 homes affordable to lower income renters. The CHP analysis also suggests that County renters need to earn 2.9 times the minimum wage to afford an average asking rent of $2,578.* Though the total number of individuals experiencing homelessness has decreased modestly, there are still 75,312 individuals who remain unhoused in LA County. In the meantime, rising construction costs, restrictive land use controls, and neighborhood resistance also continue to present challenges to housing production in LA County.
In June 2021, in response to Los Angeles County’s housing affordability crisis, the Board approved an updated JD Policy focused on affordable housing, establishing Metro’s 10K Commitment and calling for the reinvestment of JD revenues to support transit-oriented communities (TOC) activities.
In July 2021, staff obtained a $1.6 million grant from the Southern California Association of Governments to complete an in-depth analysis of Metro’s JD processes and opportunity sites. This analysis developed acceleration strategies to overcome existing hurdles to project delivery, without sacrificing community input or project quality. The work from this grant was incorporated into the 10K acceleration strategies described below.
Surplus Land Act
In 2019, AB1486 expanded the SLA to strengthen the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) oversight of surplus land disposition and prioritize use of local surplus land for affordable housing. The amendments created additional procedural steps for a local agency to secure HCD approvals for property disposition and placed limitations on Metro’s overall flexibility with respect to land transactions and future joint development of any non-residential uses.
JD 10K Sites
In February 2023, the Board directed staff to develop an inventory of Metro property suitable for housing and to identify strategies to accelerate the delivery of affordable housing through JD.
In April 2023, the Board approved a list of 20 Metro-owned properties (10K Sites) which were vacant or underutilized and could be repurposed to meet the Board’s 10K Commitment as shown in the chart below.
10K Acceleration Strategies
As part of the April 2023 actions, the Board also adopted 29 strategies to accelerate the creation of new housing units (10K Acceleration Strategies). The 10K Acceleration Strategies center on equity and community engagement while expediting the delivery of housing. These strategies were informed by review of development policies of other agencies, discussions with key stakeholders, and interviews with staff. The strategies also built on input received through months of engagement for the 2021 JD Policy amendment including a virtual town hall, online surveys, and internal and external working groups. While the former JD process took approximately 10 years to complete a project, the acceleration strategies seek to reduce the timeframe to five years. The new process includes targeted community outreach, the establishment of a Developer Bench, standardized template agreements, simplified design review, and enhanced interdepartmental coordination.
In March 2024, consistent with the 10K Acceleration Strategies, the Board approved the creation of a pre-qualified bench of developers (Developer Bench) eligible to respond to future 10K Site Requests for Proposals (RFPs).
In June 2024, the Board adopted an amended JD Policy and Exclusive Negotiations Agreement (ENA) template which incorporated language to clearly define, communicate, and promote the collaboration and participation of community-based organizations (CBOs), community-based development organizations (CBDOs), Small Business Enterprises (SBEs), Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs), and Disabled Veterans Business Enterprises (DVBEs).
Community Engagement
To date, Metro has engaged with 832 community members at pop-up events or community intercepts and another 1,975 through 18 transit rider intercept efforts. Metro has connected with 372 local businesses, requesting feedback on community and transit amenities that may be provided with the new housing projects. In addition to our field engagement, our digital engagement included over 736,909 social media impressions and 204,100 newsletter recipients, resulting in 3,848 completed site-specific surveys.
Staff have also developed avenues for our Developer Bench to engage and partner with CBDOs, CBOs, SBEs, DBEs, DVBEs, and Community Land Trusts (CLTs). Staff have hosted three “Building Partnerships” virtual events to facilitate networking among potential development partners prior to releasing site-specific RFPs. Over 245 multi-disciplinary participants have attended these events, resulting in development proposals spanning an impressive array of mission-driven organizations.
*California Housing Partnership, Los Angeles County 2025 Affordable Housing Needs Report (May 2025)
Discussion
DISCUSSION
Progress Towards 10K Homes
When the 10K Commitment goal was established in June 2021, 2,221 units had already been completed. Since the goal was established, Metro welcomed residents to four newly completed 100% affordable JD projects, representing a total of 377 homes. These “legacy” projects, listed below, were many years in the making and their completion-all of which occurred in the past 15 months-is a significant milestone for the JD program and the communities these projects serve.
*Includes income-restricted and unrestricted Managers’ units
Other significant milestones since 2024 include the Board’s approval of a joint development agreement and ground lease terms for Chavez Gardens (Chavez/Fickett), Crenshaw Crossings (Expo/Crenshaw), District NoHo (North Hollywood), and Lucha Reyes (Mariachi Plaza) representing more than 2,000 units entering the pre-construction phase and poised to begin construction upon securing full project financing.
With these recent milestones, Metro is well on its way to achieving the Board’s 10,000-unit goal as shown in the chart below:
* Number of income-restricted units for active and future projects to be determined at ENA stage.
**The range of potential housing units includes preliminary estimates for active and future projects that are pre-ENA. These estimates are subject to change based upon the applicable local or state land use regulations and other factors that impact physical and financial feasibility.
10K Request for Proposals (RFPs)
Since the Board’s approval of the Developer Bench in March 2024, Metro has initiated 9 site-specific community engagement efforts representing approximately 3,000 potential units, of which 1,500 would be income-restricted. A total of six RFPs have been released to the Developer Bench and thus far Metro has received 19 proposals for the first four sites (17th St./SMC, Wilshire/Crenshaw, Balboa and Canoga). As a point of reference, in the first half of 2025, Metro released the same number of joint development RFPs as it had in the decade from 2014 to 2024. A map showing the status of Metro housing sites is provided as Attachment B.
With the first 10K sites underway, staff are now able to move more quickly and easily through the process, allowing for the launch of all remaining 10K sites in the next 18 months. In the next six months, Metro anticipates launching community engagement at up to six new sites and entering into up to six ENAs.
Considerations for 10K Plan Implementation
Feedback from local jurisdictions, housing advocacy groups, and non-profit housing developers has been overwhelmingly positive. While these groups have applauded Metro’s commitment to an accelerated process, they have also raised concerns about the lack of available resources - traditional capital, grants, and human resources - to realistically respond to this “surge” of opportunities.
At the local level, while communities acknowledge the need to address the regional housing shortage, local stakeholders have surfaced traditional concerns such as anticipated parking and traffic impacts; impacts to those that lease Metro property for short-term use; height and density and concerns and the potential for any development-even 100% affordable projects-to exacerbate displacement of existing residents and businesses.
At the Balboa Station, several residents within the 1-mile area surrounding the site have raised concerns about the level of engagement necessary to garner community support. Further discussion on Community Outreach is below.
At the Florence Station, a neighborhood advocacy group raised concerns that developing the Park and Ride there would remove a vital community resource and exacerbate the neighborhood’s existing parking shortage. Further discussion on Parking is below.
Communities have also expressed concern that the current housing selection process does not have a local preference. Staff continue to monitor the City of Los Angeles’ exploration of a policy that would enable local residents and/or artists in certain neighborhoods priority in the housing lottery for these projects.
As noted in the 2024 Board Action approving the developer Bench, site-specific RFPs are released only to the developer bench but directly include the Community Recommendations and evaluation criteria contained in the Outreach Report. Upon release of the first two 10K RFPs, Wilshire/Crenshaw and 17th/SMC Station, staff posted select elements of all submitted proposals to the Metro website for public comment with the intention of increasing transparency. The public posting of proposals raised issues relative to stakeholder expectations because Metro’s “black-out period” prohibits Metro from engaging in discussion with the public regarding specific proposals while the developer selection process is underway. Moving forward, staff will instead post the key details of the selected proposal along with a Notice of Intent to Award, at which point the black-out restrictions would be lifted. Comments received on the selected proposal would be tracked and addressed by the developer in subsequent phases of the community engagement process.
Community Engagement
Key to the accelerated process (and delivering on the 10K Commitment) is a proactive community engagement program that seeks to overcome traditional barriers to participation by broadening the opportunities and means by which stakeholders are engaged. Previous community engagement efforts tended to present each site as a blank slate, primarily engaging local residents in a dialogue about what community benefits a development project should provide. This visioning effort, while well-intentioned, created parameters for development without the input of the non-profit and for-profit developers that would be responsible for the delivery of the project, and as a result often raised unrealistic expectations about what could feasibly be delivered.
Under the accelerated process, the outreach effort starts from the Board’s direction to repurpose and prioritize underutilized Metro property to address the housing shortage. The new process seeks focused input on the Board’s designated “10K Sites” from a broader set of stakeholders that includes local residents, as well as transit riders, local employees and employers, schools, and others that may have ties to the local community. Metro solicits input on community needs via surveys, pop-up events, community intercepts, key stakeholder roundtables, and transit rider intercepts. Surveys help Metro to collect specific input from targeted audiences while pop-up events and direct engagement with stakeholders in their daily routines and commutes (“intercepts”) allow face-to-face conversations with stakeholders on the issues that matter most to them. Staff meet residents and transit riders where they are, at local events, neighborhood institutions, and on their commutes. Stakeholders are engaged around their needs and interests for the future housing site, which includes the ground floor uses, surrounding open space, landscaping, and other amenities.
Once the developer is selected, the template ENA requires each developer to adhere to an outreach plan to engage stakeholders through a variety of means, which may include in-person or digital engagement, coordination with key stakeholder groups, and solicitation of public feedback on the design proposal. The outreach plan requires that the developer demonstrate to Metro how feedback received has been addressed in the revised project proposal before submitting that project for entitlements through the local jurisdiction approval process.
Parking
Ten of the 20 10K Sites are proposed at existing park-and-ride locations. Before recommending these sites for housing development, Joint Development staff worked with Metro’s Parking Management team to conduct a parking demand study at all park-and-ride facilities across the LA Metro system. Though parking demand continues to lag across the Metro system, the study projected future parking demand using a logistic growth function that assumes an eventual rebound to pre-COVID levels.
Of the 21 park and ride sites analyzed, the study identified nine sites where sufficient parking would be available at other park and ride locations within a 15-minute drive of the station (calculated at 8:00 AM assuming weekday traffic).
Where communities have expressed concerns about loss of parking, it is helpful to distinguish among the three types of parking that may be desired: 1) transit parking, which as noted above is managed by directing patrons to underutilized lots nearby; 2) parking for the new housing development, for which the Metro’s Joint Development policy has established a maximum of 0.5 spaces per bedroom; and 3) community parking, which is not the intended or, in many cases, allowable use.
Staff will continue to work with communities to realistically balance these needs, including considering replacement parking on a case-by-case basis. However, in accordance with the Board’s direction, maximizing affordable housing will continue to be the key priority.
10K Dashboard
In June 2025, staff launched a dashboard <https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/fc3e300fce8642b0a24c996d32d99d0e/page/DASHBOARD> system (https://bit.ly/MetroHousingProjectsandProgress <https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/fc3e300fce8642b0a24c996d32d99d0e/page/Home>) on Metro’s website to provide transparency and up-to-the-minute updates on project status, progress toward the 10K goal, and a forecast of upcoming milestones and opportunities to engage with Metro and the selected developers. The dashboard’s continuous public reporting is critical to supporting Metro’s goal to shorten the timeframe for project delivery from 10 to five years by focusing staff resources on program delivery while maintaining transparency. Through this system, the public will be notified of upcoming milestones such as launching outreach, releasing RFPs, developer selection and ENA execution. The dashboard is available at metro.net/10k. A static print-out of the dashboard is provided as Attachment C.
JD Policy Revisions
Revisions to the JD Policy are proposed to align terminology with the current developer selection process, clarifying that points will be awarded for proposals that: are aligned with community feedback; deliver more affordable units at deeper levels of affordability; include strategies to accelerate and streamline project delivery; and submitted by teams with experience accessing public funds for affordable housing. In addition, the amended Policy includes smaller “clean-up” items, such as streamlining affordability definitions and replacing the design checklist with “Site Infrastructure and Design Requirements” to match the current design review process.
In 2023, the SLA was amended to add a new, programmatic exemption that provides one-time blanket approval of property dispositions and allows transit agencies to use surplus land for commercial, industrial, retail, office and other uses if they have adopted a plan to dedicate at least 50 percent of gross acreage covered by the plan to residential uses and at least 25 percent of the residential units are reserved for lower income households. Modifying the JD Policy to codify this commitment is necessary to secure a programmatic exemption which will help streamline administrative procedures. This will help accelerate delivery on the 10K Commitment while also allowing for flexibility in land uses, where appropriate.
A new section enables Metro to qualify for a programmatic exemption permitted under California Government Code Section 54221(f)1)(S), a recently adopted section of the SLA . The new policy language requires that Metro maintain a portfolio of real properties (SLA Portfolio) which, in the aggregate, satisfies the programmatic exemption by adhering to the following criteria:
• At least 50% of the gross acreage within the SLA Portfolio must be used for residential purposes.
• The SLA Portfolio must maintain a minimum density of 10 residential units per gross acre, averaged across all land in the SLA Portfolio.
• At least 25% of all residential units to be developed on the properties, but not necessarily on the individual parcels, within the SLA Portfolio, must be affordable.
• At the time surplus land is disposed of under this policy, Metro must record affordability requirements in covenants or restrictions that run with the land.
Metro shall compile a list of properties that satisfies these criteria and HCD guidance. Staff may add new properties to or remove properties from the SLA Portfolio from time to time to maintain alignment with the JD Policy. The programmatic exemption will streamline HCD’s approval of future JD projects and allow Metro additional flexibility to develop some property with non-residential uses, if appropriate. HCD has reviewed the proposed policy language, which models language adopted by other California transit agencies, and has indicated that the language is sufficient to enable Metro to take advantage of the exemption.
Language was also added to conform with electric vehicle charging revenue requirements contained in the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Circular, which was updated in September 2024. The purpose of the FTA’s proposed revisions is to incorporate changes made by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), implemented as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that amended the definition of a “Capital Project” in Section 5302 of Title 49, United States Code <https://www.govinfo.gov/link/uscode/49/5302>. Specifically, the proposed revisions address “equipment to fuel privately owned zero-emission passenger vehicles” that is “installed as part of a joint development improvement” and requires “the recipient of [FTA] assistance to collect fees from users of the equipment . . . to recover the costs of construction, maintenance, and operation of the equipment.”
The proposed amended policy has also been adjusted to conform the ENA term for all JD sites with the ENA terms for 10K Sites adopted by the Board in June 2024. The updated Policy allows that, unless otherwise approved by the Board, ENA terms will consist of a 12-month base period with the option to extend in 12-month increments up to a total of 60 months administratively, with notifications to the Board which will include a project status update, reasons for the extension, and proposed next steps.
Lastly, the updated policy corrects minor formatting errors to improve the readability of the document.
Determination_Of_Safety_Impact
DETERMINATION OF SAFETY IMPACT
Approval of the recommendations will not impact the safety of our customers and employees.
Financial_Impact
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Adoption of the recommendations will not have an additional long-term direct financial impact on the Agency. The revisions to the JD policy need to be made to be eligible for the SLA programmatic exemption, but do not result in any changes to the 10K Program.
Impact to Budget
The current year JD program activity is incorporated into the adopted FY26 budget. This item does not change the level of JD activity projected for the 10K Program. The funding sources for the FY26 budget are JD revenues reinvested to the JD program and other general funds which are eligible for bus & rail operations and capital projects.
Equity_Platform
EQUITY PLATFORM
The implementation of the 10K Acceleration Strategies will facilitate the development of affordable housing, market rate housing, and other public benefits such as job creation, transit investments, first-last mile improvements, open space, community rooms, and urban greening. Development of housing for all income levels is essential to alleviating the housing shortage that disproportionately and negatively impacts all categories of disadvantaged communities including Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC), low-income households, people with disabilities, and other marginalized communities.
In some instances, the delivery of market rate or affordable housing will be accompanied by neighborhood change that may be felt most acutely and negatively by marginalized and vulnerable populations immediately surrounding such sites. The 10K Acceleration Strategies seek to minimize disruptive impacts, such as displacement, while increasing opportunities to serve not only at-risk populations but also disadvantaged communities via the delivery of affordable housing throughout the County focusing on areas with the greatest need.
The 10K Acceleration Strategies utilizes the JD Policy as its basis for implementation. Though the JD Policy is being amended with revisions for internal/external alignment, the foundation of the JD Policy has been informed through extensive outreach and engagement which included a virtual town hall event, online surveys, internal and external working groups, community-based development organization interviews, and extensive input from staff.
Vehicle_Miles_Traveled_Outcome
VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED OUTCOME
Total VMT and VMT per capita in Los Angeles County are lower than national averages, the lowest in the SCAG region, and on the lower end of VMT per capita statewide, with these declining VMT trends due in part to Metro’s significant investment in rail and bus transit.* Metro’s Board-adopted VMT reduction targets align with California’s statewide climate goals, including achieving carbon neutrality by 2045. To ensure continued progress, all Board items are assessed for their potential impact on VMT.
As part of these ongoing efforts, this item is expected to contribute to further reductions in VMT. This item supports Metro’s systemwide strategy to reduce VMT through investment activities that will benefit transit-oriented communities and further encourage public transit ridership, ridesharing, and active transportation.
The 10K Program and Policy update will accelerate the delivery of housing adjacent to public transit, reducing the need for a car and therefore County VMT. Metro’s Board-adopted VMT reduction targets were designed to build on the success of existing investments, and this item aligns with those objectives.
*Based on population estimates from the United States Census and VMT estimates from Caltrans’ Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) data between 2001-2019.
Implementation_of_Strategic_Plan_Goals
IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS
By approving these recommendations, Metro will advance the Vision 2028 Strategic Plan Goal #3, to “enhance communities and lives through mobility and access to opportunity,” by activating several transit-oriented communities with catalytic development projects that will bring housing, jobs, and services to neighborhoods across the Metro system and Los Angeles County at-large.
Alternatives_Considered
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
The Board could defer or deny approval of the recommendations. This is not recommended as the JD Policy revisions are necessary for the JD Program to conform to federal and state requirements and allow Metro to continue its trajectory in meeting the 10,000-unit mandate by 2031.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Upon approval of these recommendations, staff will incorporate the amendments as indicated in Attachment A and share the adopted policy with HCD. Staff will provide periodic updates on the 10K Commitment to the Board and the public via stakeholder emails, Metro community relations newsletters, and automatic notifications from the on-line dashboard system.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - Amended Joint Development Policy
Attachment B - Joint Development Sites
Attachment C - Joint Development Dashboard
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Mica O’brien, Principal Transportation Planner, Countywide Planning & Development, (213)922-2219
Christopher Lopez, Senior Manager, Countywide Planning & Development, (213) 922-4803
Wells Lawson, Deputy Executive Officer, Countywide Planning & Development, (213) 922-7217
Nick Saponara, Executive Officer, Countywide Planning & Development, (213) 922-4313
Holly Rockwell, Senior Executive Officer, Countywide Planning & Development, (213) 922-5585
Nicole Ferrara, Deputy Chief Planning Officer, (213) 547-4322
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Ray Sosa, Chief Planning Officer, (213) 547-4274
