Stroock Presents: GOAT Town, Episode 4: Office-to-Residential Conversions in NYC – Magic Bullet or Merely One Piece of the Puzzle?
Business Better Podcast Episode: Affordable Housing in Chinatown, Los Angeles: How To Better Serve Your Community
California CRE to Expand in 2022
How To Be A Project Advocate By Diffusing Adjacent Neighbor Tensions
Homebuilder Series Webinar: Joint Ventures Solutions, Steve Lear
On September 19, 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom approved Assembly Bill (AB) 1893 (Wicks), which significantly modifies the “Builder’s Remedy” under the Housing Accountability Act (Government Code section 65589.5 et seq.) (HAA),...more
On September 19, 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom approved Assembly Bill (AB) 2243 (Wicks), which amends AB 2011 (Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022), effective January 1, 2025. As explained in our prior legal...more
Elk Grove has settled a lawsuit with the state over a 67-unit supportive housing project the city denied, despite the fact that the city had recently approved a similar market-rate project. The lawsuit filed by Attorney...more
Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed two new bills that aim to boost housing supply and further address the state’s homelessness crisis....more
On June 27, 2024, the California First District Court of Appeal affirmed the denial of a writ petition challenging the City of Lafayette’s determination that a 12-unit residential condominium building qualified for the Class...more
City of Los Angeles - Increase to Planning Applications and Affordable Housing Linkage Fees - On July 1, 2024, the fee for planning and land use applications increased by 3.5% based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban...more
A roundup of news and multimedia from the Unfamiliar Terrain team: San Francisco - S.F.’s Stonestown to become west side’s largest residential development in 50 years (SF Chronicle): The plan to convert the Stonestown...more
The California Supreme Court, on June 6, 2024, reversed the First District Court of Appeal’s decision regarding UC Berkeley’s Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) EIR. The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision clears the way for...more
To address the housing crisis in California, Senate Bill 684 (SB 684), passed in 2023 but effective as of July 1, 2024, aims to simplify the approval process for small-scale for-sale housing projects, facilitate a quicker...more
The Assembly Select Committee on Permitting Reform held its first hearing on June 18, 2024, commencing its efforts to address California’s housing and climate crises by reforming the state’s land use permitting regime....more
As expected, on June 28, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) determined that San Francisco has not made adequate progress toward its State-mandated housing production goal. The City’s Housing...more
A roundup of news and multimedia from the Unfamiliar Terrain team: San Francisco - Ultra Wealthy Are Putting Money Behind Bets on San Francisco’s Comeback (Bloomberg): Big investments in City businesses and real...more
The California Supreme Court recently upheld the Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”) for the Long Range Development Plan (“LRDP”) for the University of California Berkeley (“UC Berkeley”) and a controversial housing project...more
A roundup of news and multimedia from the Unfamiliar Terrain team: San Francisco - Small and Mighty: How small businesses can reinvent downtown San Francisco (SPUR Policy Brief): SPUR’s research, drawn from a...more
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced the 2024 Area Median Income (AMI) and Rent Limits for counties statewide. These numbers are impactful on a number of levels, but are extremely important...more
Welcome to Construction & Claims, a periodic digest of the headlines, statutory and regulatory changes and court cases involving construction news, claims, bid protests, contract administration and payment-related disputes....more
On March 6, 2024, the First Appellate District held that a city council resolution approving an agreement between the City of Livermore and an affordable housing developer was legislative in nature and thus subject to a...more
On March 19, 2024, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks introduced new amendments to pending Assembly Bill (AB) 2243, which would amend AB 2011 (operative as of July 1, 2023). As explained in our prior legal alert, AB 2011 provides for...more
The Los Angeles Superior Court issued a highly anticipated ruling on March 4, 2024, addressing a Builder’s Remedy project denial by the City of La Cañada Flintridge. The decision confirms (i) that a local jurisdiction cannot...more
In part two of the 2024 Housing New Law Guidance series we cover important new housing legislation related to CEQA, code enforcement, housing development, the Housing Crisis Act (HCA), housing element, infill infrastructure...more
Voters in San Francisco and California will again confront a formidable ballot during the election on March 5, 2024, with an array of qualified City measures and one state proposition to consider....more
Recognizing that Downtown San Francisco is “struggling” post-pandemic, State Senator Scott Wiener has announced new legislation to exempt certain projects in the area from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review...more
The city of Berkeley will pay $4 million in connection with its mishandling of an application to build 260 housing units on the old Spenger's parking lot. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch fined Berkeley $2.6...more
Throughout 2023, the State’s Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) loomed large in San Francisco land use policy and politics. In January 2023, the City adopted and HCD certified a new Housing Element setting...more