Understanding Elevated Soft Costs in Affordable Housing Development: Lessons from the City of Los Angeles

Los Angeles faces one of the most severe housing affordability crises in the United States, driven in-part by restrictive zoning and land use controls, high construction costs, and design-related expenses. This project seeks to evaluate the role of Los Angeles Housing Department’s (LAHD) architectural design guidelines on the cost and feasibility of affordable housing development. This project investigates why design-related costs appear to be higher for affordable housing developments in Los Angeles than in neighboring cities, and how the design guidelines contribute to those price differences.