CityStructure - Feasibility Study simplified
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What means AMI and how it is calculated?

In a rapidly growing city like San Francisco, maintaining a balanced housing market is essential to meet the needs of residents across income levels. Imagine a developer planning to construct a new housing project. To ensure fairness, the city's "Housing Balance" policy comes into play, which measures the proportion of affordable new housing units to lower-income households compared to market-rate units.

Housing Balance Calculation in San Francisco

AMI means Area Median Income as defined in California Health & Safety Code Section 50106.

“Housing Balance” is defined as the proportion of all new housing units affordable to households of extremely low, very low, low, or moderate-income households, as defined in California Health & Safety Code Sections 50079.5, as such provisions may be amended from time to time, less the number of units removed from rent-controlled or below-market status, to the total number of all new housing units for a 10-year Housing Balance Period.

Affordable housing as determined by the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD)

(A) Extremely Low-Income Units, which are units available to individuals or families making between 0-30% of Area Median Income (AMI) as defined in California Health & Safety Code Section 50106, and are subject to price or rent restrictions between 0-30% AMI;

(B) Very Low-Income Units, which are units available to individuals or families making between 30-50% AMI as defined in California Health & Safety Code Section 50105, and are subject to price or rent restrictions between 30-50% AMI;

(C) Lower Income Units, which are units available to individuals or families making between 50-80% AMI as defined in California Health & Safety Code Section 50079.5, and are subject to price or rent restrictions between 50-80% AMI;

(D) Moderate Income Units, which are units available to individuals or families making between 80-120% AMI and are subject to price or rent restrictions between 80-120% AMI;

(E) Middle-Income Units, which are units available to individuals or families making between 120-150% AMI and are subject to price or rent restrictions between 120-150% AMI;

(F) Market-rate units, which are units not subject to any deed or regulatory agreement with price restrictions;

Start with an analysis to determine how much money you need for your project.