Like many cities across the United States, Needles, California, is wrestling with a deficit in its housing supply. Centered around the need for a greater number of attainable and middle-market homes, the housing challenge in Needles is made even more acute as the city’s economy remains relatively flat with little growth year over year. The city of approximately 6,000 full-time residents is on the far eastern edge of the state of California, with the Colorado River making up its eastern boundary. The state of Arizona sits on the other side of the river.
This location provides residents and visitors with enviable recreation opportunities on the river and in the surrounding Bureau of Land Management (BLM) acreage. It also creates significant economic tension due to the
relative ease and lower cost of doing business in Arizona versus California. Residents love the small-town nature and the rich history of Needles. The city’s elected leaders and professional staff are dedicated to the city and motivated to see it succeed, yet challenges remain.

The challenge of attracting new housing, particularly housing that will allow residents to live comfortably in the desert’s extreme temperatures, prompted the City of Needles (the City) to turn to the Urban Land Institute Orange County / Inland Empire district council (ULI) for assistance. Using its trusted technical assistance panel (TAP) program, ULI assembled a panel of real estate professionals to study the housing challenge. The panel toured the city, reviewed previous planning efforts, and interviewed stakeholders, ultimately arriving at a set of recommendations to help guide the City in its efforts to address the housing supply deficit. The panel’s recommendations addressed the
housing and the heat mitigation challenges the city is facing. The panel also identified the fundamental economic and market forces that are potentially curbing new housing development in Needles. Finally, the panel identified steps the City can take to turn the economic tide and make the business case for new housing development in Needles.