Can Garage Conversions Help California’s Housing Crisis?

On the heels of a California state law that relaxes restrictions on building accessory dwelling units, venture capitalist Steven Dietz believes he has part of a solution for the state’s housing shortage

His idea is simple: His company, United Dwelling which won a million dollar grant last year from Los Angeles County, enters a partnership with a homeowner, pays for the garage conversion, manages the rental of the apartment to a qualified applicant and splits the rent with the homeowner.

Since most of the detached garages in Los Angeles aren’t used for cars — 91 percent of the 2,100 homeowners surveyed by Mr. Dietz’s students (he taught an entrepreneurship class at the University of Southern California) use their garages for something else, mostly storage — this can provide rental income and affordable housing in many neighborhoods. And it does it by using existing structures.

“The No. 1 complaint with the construction of any new affordable housing anywhere is that it changes the fabric of the neighborhood,” said Christian D. Návar, the co-founder of Modative, an architecture firm in Los Angeles County that has been leading the charge in reimagining affordable ADUs. “That isn’t an issue, with this approach.”

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