KQED: Newsom Vowed to Build Housing on Surplus State Property. 99% of the Land Will Stay Vacant

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Development is seen along Clement Avenue from this drone view in Alameda, Calif., on Wednesday, March 23, 2022. The Alameda Marina is being revitalized and restored as The Launch is constructed. This project will include 360 units, including 49 affordable housing units. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Before Gavin Newsom became governor of California, he campaigned on a promise to make surplus state-owned land available for affordable housing.

Shortly after he entered office, he made good on that promise, issuing an executive order that directed state agencies to assess more than 44,000 parcels to determine their suitability for development.

“We have to use every tool in our toolbox to deliver more affordable housing for low-income and middle-class Californians,” he said in 2019 when he announced the first project to be built under his executive order. “State government is stepping up and getting creative to address the cost crisis that is devastating working families across the state.”

But as it turned out, only 46 of those 44,000 parcels were developable.