Possible Antioch housing development would center around "granny flats"
On Tuesday night, the Antioch City Council was scheduled to hear a proposal that takes Accessory Dwelling Units to their limit, and the council may have little choice but to approve it.
"So, we were the first ones here and it's been nice just having those beautiful vineyards across the street," said Theresa Arzate, as she stood on her front porch.
Arzate loves the look of the vineyards when the seasons change and they become green and lovely. But there are a lot of changes happening in her neighborhood that she cannot control.
"That's the way it is. You have no say. It's not my property. It's across the street, so, whatever," she said with a shrug of her shoulders.
On the vineyard property, at the corner of Oakley Drive and Phillips Lane, a developer is proposing an unusual housing project that probably couldn't have been done just a few years ago. BrightSky Residential wants to build 71 new single family homes. But each lot will also have an accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, on it, bringing the total number of homes to 141.
"For them, it's a matter of, 'we're used to seeing ADUs here and there, over time,'" said BrightSky President Charles McKeag. "To see an entire community where every lot has two homes is a very new thing."
And McKeag said, because of state law, Antioch has little to say about it. The housing shortage in California has changed the way new homes are built, giving developers the power to build ADU's or "granny units" on residential properties
"It gives us a right, as a developer, without the city having a whole lot of discretion in the matter, to add an accessory dwelling unit to each of those lots without having to change the zoning," he said.
But the city might not object, anyway. Rural, suburban communities like Antioch are also under pressure from the state to add new housing.
John Geary is CEO of Abodu, a Bay Area company that has grown to be the largest ADU builder in the state.
He said, "When it comes to both the state level and local jurisdictions, they're looking at ADU's as a tool for what's really getting called 'gentle density.' This is density in existing single family — and increasingly multifamily communities — to add housing to areas that really need it most."
And there's another new wrinkle in the BrightSky project. All the new homes, ADU's and two-story larger homes alike, are not intended for sale. The company will keep ownership of the entire development and operate it as a strictly rental community.
"It allows us to get product on the ground that achieves the housing solution for folks who want to live in something other than a traditional apartment, maybe they want a little more space. They want that single family lifestyle, but they simply can't afford to own a home," said McKeag.
Building new single-family homes just for renting is highly unusual. But just like seasons in the vineyards, the real estate landscape is changing.
Whether by choice or economic necessity, a lot of people are downsizing their homes and their ideas about the American Dream.