Converting idle commercial land would ease state’s housing and climate crises

One of the most consequential housing bills before lawmakers this year — Assembly Bill 2011 — is designed to address California’s housing crisis by making it easier to convert unused commercial space into new homes. While the legislation focuses on housing strategies, it is also critically important environmental policy.

AB 2011 would streamline approvals to convert unused commercial space — empty strip malls, office parks and parking lots — into affordable and mixed-income housing as long as the projects meet objective planning and zoning standards and adhere to specific affordability, labor and environmental criteria.

Read the full CalMatters op-ed by Dan Silver, Endangered Habitat League, and Amanda Brown-Stevens, Greenbelt Alliance, here.