Memorandum
Date: February 1, 2024
To: File
From: Mayank Patel, Associate Planner
RE: Residential Condominium Conversion Cap & Unit Allocation Tracking
Pursuant to Fremont Municipal Code (FMC) §18.190.060, Condominium Conversion – Residential Projects, this memo documents the status of used and unused residential condominium conversion unit allocations. This information is also made available to the public on the City’s website and at the Development Services Center.
Background
The Residential Condominium Conversion Ordinance (“Ordinance”) provides a standard 100- unit conversion allocation, or cap, per calendar year (“CY”). The intent of the standard is to ensure the availability of rental apartment stock by balancing rental and ownership housing within the city. Pursuant FMC 18.190.060(g), the Planning Commission is authorized to grant limited discretionary increases above the 100-unit allocation for any particular CY, if certain specified conditions are met. Discretionary increases include:
1) Potential roll-overs of any unused unit allocations from an immediate prior CY if the apartment vacancy rate is greater than five percent; or
2) Borrowing up to 20 units in allocations from future years.
To implement this measure, the Planning Division is charged with tracking such allocations and reporting to the public. Residential condominium conversion applications are only accepted for processing from March 1 to March 15 of each CY. Table 1 provides a summary of the number of applications received since 2018. For more detail, please refer to Attachment A.
Table 1. Condominium Conversion Applications by Calendar Year Calendar Year Number of Applications
2018 0
2019 0
2020 0
2021 0
2022 0
2023 0
For CY 2024, the available allocation is 100 units. The unused allocation from CY 2023 of 100 units cannot be carried over and used in CY 2024 because the vacancy rate in February 2024 was
4.9-percent, below the required five percent.
Attachment(s):
A) Annual Conversion Cap and Unit Allocation Tracking
ATTACHMENT A
Residential Condominium Annual Conversion Cap and Unit Allocation Tracking (Updated February 2024)
Calendar
Year
Allowance
(# of apartment units
available for
conversion to
condominiums)
No. of
Applications
Submitted
(Residential condominium
conversion applications)
No. of Units
Allocated or
Approved
(100 units max, unless unused
allocation is carried over from a
previous calendar year or a
discretionary increase is permitted)
Unused
Allocation
May Unused
Allocation be
Carried
Over?
(Apartment
Vacancy Rate>=5%)
# of Units
Actually
Converted
# of
Produced
Units
(New apartment
units, finaled)
2018 100 0 0 100 No 0 41
2019 100 0 0 100 No 0 1702
2020 100 0 0 100 Yes 0 1023
2021 200 0 0 100 Yes 0 3504
2022 200 0 0 100 Yes 0 8685
2023 200 0 0 100 No 0 0
2024 100* TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD
* Per FMC §18.190.060(g)(1), an unused allocation from a prior year may only be carried over and used during the next calendar year if, at that time, the apartment vacancy rate for t he city is greater than five percent.
If an allocation is not used in the next subsequent calendar year, it shall expire .
1 Lotus Common (4 units).
2 Mission Court Senior Apartments (90 units); MidPen Stevenson Place Apartments (80 units). 3 Fairfield Residential (102 units)
4 City Center Apartments (60 units); Innovia Wrap Around Apartments (290 units) 5 Fairfield Residential (422 units); Palmia at Mission Falls (171 units); Walnut Liberty Mixed Use Apartments (275 units).