Housing a hot topic at annual Greater
Irvine Chamber event
Zillow Group CEO Spencer Rascoff, who started Zillow.com a decade ago, shared the story of the company’s evolution as well as its commitment to corporate social responsibility. The company has invested $5 million over the last five years to help fight housing insecurity.
By Irvine City News staff
Land use, housing and homelessness were key subjects addressed Jan. 24 at the Greater Irvine Chamber of Commerce 2018 Business Outlook. More than 600 business and community leaders attended the breakfast event at the Hotel Irvine.
Bryan Starr, President and CEO of the Greater Irvine Chamber, opened the event, noting that an impressive one-third of Fortune 500 companies have a presence in Irvine. “We are master planned,” Starr said, “to be an economic powerhouse.”
UC Irvine Professor of Economics Jan Brueckner then took the stage first to discuss one of the greatest concerns for employers in Irvine; the need for more affordable workforce housing. Statewide, a serve shortage of housing for all types of workers is posing a major threat to attracting and retaining skilled labor. Irvine is one of California’s premier job centers. Yet, housing costs continue to escalate.
Compounding the issue, Brueckner said, is a new effort in Irvine to gather enough signatures to qualify an initiative on the November ballot that would require voters to approve any significant development—commercial or residential—in the city. The net effect of this “zero growth” proposal would be to dramatically decrease the affordability of housing in Irvine by driving current prices even higher as the limited housing supply shrinks even further.
Such regulations, Brueckner said, included building permit caps, maximum density rules, minimum dwelling size, etc. The study also collected information on housing prices in each city. “Five, six or seven regulations will have a substantial effect on housing prices in the city.” He said, adding, “If you have extra regulations, housing starts fall.”
Proponents of the zero growth proposal claim traffic has become unacceptable in Irvine over the last decade. While Brueckner, an Irvine resident himself, is sympathetic to concerns about congestion, he said stopping growth is not the answer. “I understand the complaint. But I’d rather have a bit more traffic and the ability to buy a house.”
Passage of such a zero growth measure, Brueckner warned, will harm area employers and chill the high performing regional economy. “Employers are also hurt,” he said. “Irvine is more expensive...it’s hard to attract a workforce...employers have to pay more for that longer commute.” In short, Brueckner encouraged the sold out pro-business breakfast crowd to vote no on the zero growth proposal if it qualifies for the ballot.
“I personally believe you should vote no and consider the greater good,” he said.
The Greater Irvine Chamber of Commerce and its nearly 1,000 members has already gone on record opposing the proposal and efforts to qualify the measure for the city ballot. Starr, the CEO of the chamber, the largest city chamber in Orange County, has called the zero growth proposal “bad for business” and pledged to do everything possible to rally support to defeat the effort.
The widening gap between housing supply and demand has created an entire class of “housing insecure” workers in the region, including Irvine. These are workers who are spending more than half of their paycheck on rents and are living pay check-to-check, according to Zillow Group CEO Spencer Rascoff, who was the final presenter at the chamber’s annual business breakfast.
“There are just not enough homes in the U.S.,” Rascoff said. “As a result of this, we’re seeing a lot of renters.” In Los Angeles and Orange County, Rascoff noted, 43 percent of renters are one-half a paycheck away from not being able to cover the next month’s rent. What’s more, he said, two-thirds of them have no savings at all.
“The ranks of the housing insecure, those who are the edge of having no home and therefore an employment risk, is growing rapidly,” said Rascoff, who is leading a Zillow Group initiative to address this issue. The company has invested $5 million over the last five years to help fight housing insecurity through a number of measures including the creation of more affordable workforce housing.
The problem is further exacerbated by no-growth ballot measures, he said. “The proposal will inevitably raise rents,” and that will lead to more homelessness. In fact, he said there is a direct correlation between higher rents and more people living on the streets. “In the L.A. and O.C. markets, rents went up 4 percent (and as a result) we manufactured another 2,000 homeless people.”
Bryan Starr, President and CEO of the Greater Irvine Chamber, opened the event, noting that an impressive one-third of Fortune 500 companies have a presence in Irvine. “We are master planned,” Starr said, “to be an economic powerhouse.”
UC Irvine Professor of Economics Jan Brueckner then took the stage first to discuss one of the greatest concerns for employers in Irvine; the need for more affordable workforce housing. Statewide, a serve shortage of housing for all types of workers is posing a major threat to attracting and retaining skilled labor. Irvine is one of California’s premier job centers. Yet, housing costs continue to escalate.
Compounding the issue, Brueckner said, is a new effort in Irvine to gather enough signatures to qualify an initiative on the November ballot that would require voters to approve any significant development—commercial or residential—in the city. The net effect of this “zero growth” proposal would be to dramatically decrease the affordability of housing in Irvine by driving current prices even higher as the limited housing supply shrinks even further.
Such regulations, Brueckner said, included building permit caps, maximum density rules, minimum dwelling size, etc. The study also collected information on housing prices in each city. “Five, six or seven regulations will have a substantial effect on housing prices in the city.” He said, adding, “If you have extra regulations, housing starts fall.”
Proponents of the zero growth proposal claim traffic has become unacceptable in Irvine over the last decade. While Brueckner, an Irvine resident himself, is sympathetic to concerns about congestion, he said stopping growth is not the answer. “I understand the complaint. But I’d rather have a bit more traffic and the ability to buy a house.”
Passage of such a zero growth measure, Brueckner warned, will harm area employers and chill the high performing regional economy. “Employers are also hurt,” he said. “Irvine is more expensive...it’s hard to attract a workforce...employers have to pay more for that longer commute.” In short, Brueckner encouraged the sold out pro-business breakfast crowd to vote no on the zero growth proposal if it qualifies for the ballot.
“I personally believe you should vote no and consider the greater good,” he said.
The Greater Irvine Chamber of Commerce and its nearly 1,000 members has already gone on record opposing the proposal and efforts to qualify the measure for the city ballot. Starr, the CEO of the chamber, the largest city chamber in Orange County, has called the zero growth proposal “bad for business” and pledged to do everything possible to rally support to defeat the effort.
The widening gap between housing supply and demand has created an entire class of “housing insecure” workers in the region, including Irvine. These are workers who are spending more than half of their paycheck on rents and are living pay check-to-check, according to Zillow Group CEO Spencer Rascoff, who was the final presenter at the chamber’s annual business breakfast.
“There are just not enough homes in the U.S.,” Rascoff said. “As a result of this, we’re seeing a lot of renters.” In Los Angeles and Orange County, Rascoff noted, 43 percent of renters are one-half a paycheck away from not being able to cover the next month’s rent. What’s more, he said, two-thirds of them have no savings at all.
“The ranks of the housing insecure, those who are the edge of having no home and therefore an employment risk, is growing rapidly,” said Rascoff, who is leading a Zillow Group initiative to address this issue. The company has invested $5 million over the last five years to help fight housing insecurity through a number of measures including the creation of more affordable workforce housing.
The problem is further exacerbated by no-growth ballot measures, he said. “The proposal will inevitably raise rents,” and that will lead to more homelessness. In fact, he said there is a direct correlation between higher rents and more people living on the streets. “In the L.A. and O.C. markets, rents went up 4 percent (and as a result) we manufactured another 2,000 homeless people.”