Since its founding in 2015, the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley has played a significant role in shaping housing policy in California. The center was established under the College of Environmental Design to continue the work of I. Donald Terner, a Berkeley architecture professor and affordable housing advocate who died in 1996.
The Terner Center has grown from three to 17 staff members and has published over 150 research papers. Its data and analysis have guided lawmakers on both sides of the aisle as they have sought solutions to California’s housing affordability crisis. According to Linda Mandolini, president of Eden Housing, “The Terner Center has been a critical force in shaping housing policy. Their research has catalyzed numerous statewide housing initiatives — streamlining production, enabling the creation of more homes and offering a model for other states to follow.”
Carolina Reid, an associate professor at Berkeley and faculty research advisor for the center, described its mission as “moving the housing policy agenda forward to ensure that everybody has a safe and affordable place to live.” Reid noted that when the center opened with just three team members — Carol Galante, herself, and graduate student Sara Draper-Zivetz — there was no other organization focused solely on housing policy research in California.
Over time, the center adapted its focus as federal priorities shifted following changes in national leadership after 2016. While some early proposals such as a federal renter’s tax credit became less feasible at the national level, demand for data-driven solutions grew among state legislators facing an escalating affordability crisis.
Research by the Terner Center influenced several pieces of major legislation. Senate Bill 35 (2017), which streamlined approval processes for new developments in areas behind on housing goals, drew from their report on similar Massachusetts legislation. This law led to faster approval rates for affordable housing projects in cities like San Francisco and is now extended until 2036.
The center’s findings also informed policies such as the Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (capping rent increases), AB 2094 (holding local jurisdictions accountable for low-income housing production), and SB 9 (allowing lot splits in single-family zones). The researchers evaluated these policies’ impacts and provided testimony supporting further reforms.
Terner’s influence extended beyond legislative efforts; its research contributed to establishing a unified state Housing and Homelessness Agency this year. Nationally, rising rates of cost-burdened renters and record homelessness numbers have brought increased attention to issues long studied by the center.
Under director Ben Metcalf, who brings extensive experience from both state and federal roles, the center has expanded into topics including homelessness and climate change’s effects on housing supply. In response to COVID-19 disruptions, it produced rapid research on emergency rental assistance measures.
In addition to policy work, Terner Labs spun off from the organization in 2020 as an affiliated nonprofit focusing on practical innovations such as new construction methods or digital tools.
Student involvement remains central; since inception over 110 graduate students and more than ten undergraduate assistants have contributed to projects ranging from climate-friendly neighborhood expansion studies to rebuilding efforts after wildfires. Many alumni continue working in California’s housing sector.
Reid acknowledged ongoing challenges due to cuts at the federal level but emphasized that insights generated by Terner are informing policymakers nationwide: “knowledge we didn’t have 10 years ago about what really works” is helping address local crises with evidence-based approaches.
Reflecting on past progress while looking ahead, Galante wrote when launching the center: “California is at the epicenter of these challenges, but it can also be at the vanguard of solutions.”
