This announcement aligns with the Governor’s 2019 executive order to help scale up California’s response to a housing crisis that has been decades in the making. The order called on the Department of Housing & Community Development (HCD) and the Department of General Services (DGS) to identify and prioritize excess state-owned property for affordable housing development. Delivering on this order, DGS developed a process to fast track projects from application to approval in less than five months.

“The technology advancements that the state has made to provide affordable housing rapidly are impressive,” said Secretary of Government Operations Agency, Nick Maduros. “This new process has generated excitement from a diverse group of developers, and I’m excited to see the fruition of these efforts to ensure housing for all.” 

“The Excess Sites program represents the best of an all-of-government approach to addressing homelessness through innovation and collaboration,” said California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Tomiquia Moss. “By making the process even more efficient, we’re delivering more affordable housing, faster. This is the direction California is moving – toward speed, scale, and solutions that strengthen families and communities.” 

Today, California is grateful for these six new affordable housing projects under Lease Option Agreements which will be built on state land:

• Department of State Hospitals (DSH) Atascadero – 87 affordable units and one market-rate unit

• DSH Napa – 183 affordable units and two market-rate units 

• Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Fontana – 127 affordable large-family units and one market-rate unit

• DGS San Bernardino – 203 affordable units and two market-rate units

• DMV Stockton – 108 affordable units and two market-rate units

• DGS Stockton – 132 affordable units and two market-rate units

“The Excess Sites Program is a vital first step in delivering affordable housing statewide, and I’m proud of our department’s effort in seizing an opportunity to build efficiencies to renew the program and improve the process,” said DGS Director Ana M. Lasso. “As public servants, we are here to help make a difference, ensure that all of our community members have a place to call home, and that this initiative continues to transform lives, builds stability, and yield growth for all Californians.”

“This streamlined process reflects our commitment to making state-owned land readily accessible for affordable housing development,” said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez. “By allowing for continuous proposal submissions, we are creating more opportunities for innovation and speed in addressing California’s decades-old crisis of housing affordability and homelessness.”

A Season of Gratitude

Since the executive order, DGS and HCD have assembled a statewide pipeline of nearly 4,300 housing units across 32 projects in various phases of development.

Recent completions—like Sacramento’s Sonrisa, Fresno County’s Guardian Village, and South Lake Tahoe’s Sugar Pine Village—show how the program is already transforming lives.

• Sacramento, with Sonrisa, a 58-unit community that combines housing with commercial space, will house a job training center in partnership with the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA).

• Fresno County, with the Guardian Village development, a 48-unit project built on the former Reedley Armory at 601 East 11th Street in Fresno County. 

• South Lake Tahoe, with Sugar Pine Village, will be the first of its kind as the largest affordable housing project in the history of South Lake Tahoe. The community opened 68 units to residents in late 2024, which will eventually grow into a 248-unit community.

An approach that works

From the very first moments of the Newsom administration, the national crisis of housing and homelessness – which were decades in the making – has been addressed with ingenuity, seriousness, and expertise. No other state has devoted as much time and attention to these twin problems – and California is a leader in producing positive results. Governor Newsom is creating a structural and foundational model for America:

✅ Addressing mental health and its impact on homelessness — Ending a long-standing 7,000 behavioral health bed shortfall in California by rapidly expanding community treatment centers and permanent supportive housing units. In 2024, voters approved Governor Newsom’s Proposition 1 which is transforming California’s mental health systems with a $6.4 billion Behavioral Health Bond for treatment settings and housing with services for veterans and people experiencing homelessness, and reforming the Behavioral Health Services Act to focus on people with the most serious illnesses, provide care to people with substance disorders, and support their housing needs.

✅ Creating new pathways for those who need the most help — Updating conservatorship laws for the first time in 50 years to include people who are unable to provide for their personal safety or necessary medical care, in addition to food, clothing, or shelter, due to either severe substance use disorder or serious mental health illness. Creating a new CARE court system that creates court-ordered plans for up to 24 months for people struggling with untreated mental illness, and often substance use challenges.

✅ Streamlining and prioritizing building of new housing — Governor Newsom made creating more housing a state priority for the first time in history. He has signed into law groundbreaking reforms to break down systemic barriers that have stood in the way of building the housing Californians need, including broad CEQA reforms. 

✅ Creating shelter and support — Providing funding and programs for local governments, coupled with strong accountability measures to ensure that each local government is doing its share to build housing, and create shelter and support, so that people living in encampments have a safe place to go. 

✅ Removing dangerous encampments — Governor Newsom has set a strong expectation for all local governments to address encampments in their communities and help connect people with support. In 2024, Governor Newsom filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court defending communities’ authority to clear encampments. After the Supreme Court affirmed local authority, Governor Newsom issued an executive order directing state entities and urging local governments to clear encampments and connect people with support, using a state-tested model that helps ensure encampments are addressed humanely and people are given adequate notice and support. 

Reversing a decades-in-the-making crisis

The Newsom administration is making significant progress in reversing decades of inaction on homelessness. Between 2014 and 2019—before Governor Newsom took office—unsheltered homelessness in California rose by approximately 37,000 people. Since then, under this Administration, California has significantly slowed that growth, even as many other states have seen worsening trends.

In 2024, while homelessness increased nationally by over 18%, California limited its overall increase to just 3% — a lower rate than in 40 other states. The state also held the growth of unsheltered homelessness to just 0.45%, compared to a national increase of nearly 7%. States like Florida, Texas, New York, and Illinois saw larger increases both in percentage and absolute numbers. California also achieved the nation’s largest reduction in veteran homelessness and made meaningful progress in reducing youth homelessness.