People, Partnerships, and Momentum: How CHOC is Advancing Affordable Housing in California
Affordable housing is at a pivotal moment in California. Under the current administration, federal priorities are shifting, and longstanding housing programs are facing uncertainty. The systems that previously supported affordable housing development have become less predictable and more constrained.
As a result, entering 2026, financing affordable housing communities has become more complex. The advanced expertise of partners like CHOC has become all the more important in every real estate negotiation.
Despite the challenges that have arisen, new efforts are underway to fast-track approvals for affordable housing communities and reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks in order to accelerate development forward.
Our Team Behind CHOC’s Real Estate Development
Behind the scenes, our real estate development team makes our communities happen. Led by Vince Nicholas, Vice President of Real Estate Development, our team has designed and built more than 25 multifamily affordable housing properties in California.
As VP, Vince drives new acquisitions and shapes opportunities across emerging and established markets. Based in CHOC’s Palm Springs office, he oversees projects from early development through construction, ensuring each community advances with strong momentum and consistent support. He leads the team in driving new acquisitions and managing projects from start to finish – from the moment a community becomes a concept, all the way to a community’s groundbreaking and grand opening.
Vince Nicholas on the construction site of the developing and near-completion Placita Dolores Huerta | Photo courtesy of Noé Montes
Since 2008, he has been deeply engaged in the affordable housing sector, applying his industry expertise to accelerate CHOC’s pipeline and elevate project delivery across our service area. As a graduate of Columbia University with a Master’s in Real Estate Development, Vince is extremely well-versed in the industry, combining his educational background with over 32 years of expertise as both a licensed broker and general contractor. Previously working on luxury hospitality projects for Starwood Hotels and mission-driven housing for Mercy Housing before joining our organization, Vince has expanded the affordable housing pipeline and elevated project delivery standards across our service areas.
This year, Vince is celebrating his 10th anniversary at CHOC. As a longtime leader in our organization, CHOC wouldn't be what it is today without his numerous contributions.
Our team works tirelessly to deliver comprehensive development expertise, including site selection, acquisition, design, construction oversight, accounting, debt and equity structuring, and full project management. In the weeks ahead, we’ll introduce more members of CHOC’s real estate team and share how their work supports our mission-driven affordable housing communities for working families.
Images celebrating CHOC Real Estate’s mission to provide sustainable and thoughtfully designed housing in California. Groundbreaking in Palm Springs, Grand Openings in Coachella, and the communities built for the people we serve.
Municipal and Strategic Local Partnerships: The Foundation of Every Community
The need for collaboration is underscored by the scale of California’s housing shortage. California faces a deficit of nearly one million homes that are affordable for its lowest-income renters, according to an estimate from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C.
In the current landscape, municipalities are facing increased pressure to deliver housing more efficiently. Our partnerships with municipalities and community organizations — like Lift to Rise, a nonprofit in the Coachella Valley working to advance fair wages and affordable housing – are essential to the work we do to create affordable housing communities for working families, seniors, and individuals with special needs. Every affordable housing community is a result of collaboration between our municipalities, local organizations, and the longstanding relationships our team has with them.
CHOC’s real estate development team brings fluency to these changing conditions, working closely with our partners to navigate new requirements. We work closely with cities throughout California to help them meet Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) requirements. RHNA is the state’s way of setting goals for how much housing each city and county needs to plan for in the years ahead. Through collaboration, CHOC works with municipalities to turn those goals into tangible, affordable housing communities.
What CHOC Is Doing to Keep Affordable Housing a Top Priority
Pressures at the federal level outside California are changing, including proposed funding cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), creating uncertainty around longstanding funding sources. As a result, the state is developing its own system to maintain resilience and self-sufficiency.
California lawmakers are working to advance two bills – AB 736 and SB 417 – which would create a $10 billion housing bond for affordable housing programs, to be placed before voters on the upcoming ballot this summer. California has also created a new state cabinet-level agency, the California Housing and Homelessness Agency (CHHA), to centralize and better coordinate housing and homelessness policy, funding, and implementation.
Amid these complex changes in the current landscape, CHOC is continuing to do the work to advance affordable housing in California. Our real estate development team is currently working on seven new prospective affordable housing communities, while also developing on its own proprietary approach to these funding challenges, which we aim to implement in the coming months and years ahead.
Through innovation and resilience, our team is working to provide certainty and stability amid a time of uncertainty in affordable housing development. Our decades of experience inform our approach to these new challenges, strengthening our capacity to deliver lasting impact for the path ahead.
Founded in 1984, Community Housing Opportunities Corporation (CHOC) is a non-profit affordable housing developer, energy, services and property management provider headquartered in Fairfield, CA; we create and manage equitable communities for individuals, families, seniors, and those with special needs. CHOC believes that economically integrated affordable housing is key to self-sufficiency and achievable with enriching, supportive programs that instill pride in residents, stabilize families, and improve local economies. Visit CHOCHousing.org.