Housing department gives Phoenix City Council full data download
Staff Reports | Community Updates
Phoenix Housing Department officials presented to Phoenix City Council yesterday an extensive overview of municipal housing efforts and initiatives aimed at serving residents better meanwhile addressing housing supply across the city.
Those efforts, Phoenix City Hall officials tell the Digital Free Press, are meant to help make housing more attainable for all who call the city of Phoenix home.
Download the Phoenix Housing Department quarterly report, HERE.
Phoenix City Council hosted a Nov. 12 work study discussion focused on all things housing at City Council Chambers where municipal leaders offered data points, efforts underway and plans for the future of affordable housing in Phoenix.
Phoenix housing officials outlined plans yesterday spanning multiple municipal departments, City Hall leaders contend are already bearing fruit.
Here is a breakdown of the extensive housing presentation presented to Phoenix City Council:
A brief overview of the Phoenix Housing Department:
The Phoenix Housing Department offers services to support permanent, affordable housing. Those efforts include:
- Acting as the Public Housing Authority for the city, the Phoenix Housing Department operates more than 1,000 public housing units.
- The housing department is responsible for administering more than 7,500 Housing Choice Vouchers allocated by the federal government.
- The housing department also provides more than 3,900 units in apartment communities throughout the city, with more than 300 under construction.
An updated on Housing Phoenix Plan at Phoenix City Council:
Phoenix City Council in June 2022 approved the Housing Phoenix Plan, which sets a goal of creating or preserving 50,000 housing units by 2030 through the implementation of the nine policy initiatives. Here are the latest numbers:
- As of September 2024, more than 48,000 housing units have been created or preserved throughout the city, which is more than 96% of the total unit goal.
- Approximately 22% of these units are considered affordable, with the remainder being workforce or market rate units. The breakdown is:
- 48,391 created or preserved Units
- Affordable | 4,625 created & 6,020 preserved
- Workforce | 11,228 created
- Market Rate | 26,518 created
Phoenix Housing Department officials report on the progress of the nine policy initiatives including:
The zoning initiative:
- A text amendment was approved to allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs), citywide in September 2023.
- As of September 2024, the Planning and Development Department has issued 233 building permits for ADUs in Phoenix.
- The Planning and Development Department led the Walkable Urban Code expansion text amendment, which was approved in February 2022.
- A text amendment to address parking standards and reductions for multifamily development was also approved in January 2024.
The redevelopment and zoning initiative:
- 140 parcels were identified as suitable for residential development and approved by Mayor and City Council.
- 26% of those approved parcels have been released via Request for Proposal (RFP).
- Due diligence for additional RFP releases is underway and additional parcels are being considered for future housing development.
The public-private partnership initiative:
Four private development projects were awarded gap funding from a $6 million allocation of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding in June 2023. This funding is assisting in the creation of over 500 new affordable housing units throughout the city.
The preservation initiative:
A total of $5 million of ARPA funding was awarded to a local community development corporation in 2023 to create permanently affordable homeownership opportunities through a Community Land Trust (CLT). Through this funding, at least 25 new homeownership opportunities will be provided, with future sale proceeds being reinvested back into the city.
Future affordable housing on municipal land:
- Helen Drake Village: 80-unit affordable senior housing.
- Central and Columbus: planned 250-unit mixed-use affordable housing.
- 9th Street and Jefferson: planned high-density, mixed-income and mixed-use development.
- Ambassador West: planned high-density, mixed-income and mixed-use development.
- Marcos de Niza: Redevelopment of public housing to higher density mixed-income housing.
The Phoenix housing landlord incentive program update:
The Phoenix Housing Department launched the Landlord Incentive Program in 2020 in order to incentive private market landlords to accept Housing Choice Vouchers. Throughout the life of the program:
- $7.8 million in CARES Act and ARPA funding was utilized.
- 4,700+ incentive payments were made to landlords.
- 900+ new landlords were added to the HCV program.
While all funding for the program has been expended, the Phoenix Housing Department is still seeing interest in new landlords joining the HCV program. In October 2024, more than 50 current and prospective landlords attended a landlord open house to ask questions and gather additional information.
Gap financing for affordable housing development
The Phoenix Housing Department serves as a lender to private affordable housing developers by providing development gap funding. When funding is provided to a project, the city records a deed restriction, called a land use restrictive agreement or LURA, on the units funded. This LURA ensures long-term affordability, which is set at a 40-year term. Since 1993 the program has provided:
- Gap financing has supported 8,700 + units in 140 projects.
- $119 million in HUD funding has been provided to affordable housing developers.
Phoenix housing down payment assistance
The Open Doors Down Payment Assistance Program is designed to assist eligible first-time homebuyers.
Federal HOME funds are offered as a deferred payment, 0% interest loan that is forgiven after a period of 5 to 15 years, depending on the amount of assistance provided. Since 2013, more than 90 families have utilized $1.4 million in funding to help buy a home through this program. A total of $1.3 million in the process of being distributed and is expected to assist an additional 50 households.
An update on the Phoenix housing needs assessment
The Housing Department also presented an overview of a recently completed housing needs assessment. The current assessment provides new data and a deeper analysis than what was included in the Housing Phoenix Plan.
The results of this current analysis will serve to inform future policy recommendations. Some of the key takeaways from the review of the assessment include:
- Approximately 57% of all subsidized housing units in Maricopa County are located in Phoenix.
- The amount of land in Phoenix that permits multifamily development far surpasses other cities and allows us to accommodate future housing development.
- 20% of Phoenix zoned property permits multifamily development of 4 or more units per lot.
- 64,000 + housing units have been entitled through rezoning actions from March 2019-September 2024, the majority being multifamily units.
- 52% of all rental households are cost-burdened, meaning they pay more than 30% of their gross income towards housing costs, which includes rent and utility costs.
- Phoenix’s extremely low- and very low-income renter households have the most limited housing options due to the low level of units with associated affordable rents.
- There is a gap of 59,000 affordable and available units for households at or below 50% of the area median income.
Phoenix housing officials say the municipality is dedicated to creating and preserving a variety of housing options for residents of all income levels and backgrounds.
City leaders contend prioritizing housing ensures Phoenix is a vibrant, inclusive community with housing choices for all.
