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 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
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
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
Last month, environmental and natural resources law practitioners, including members of the Brownstein team, gathered outside Yosemite National Park for the annual Yosemite Environmental Law Conference. The conference...more
Yesterday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 4, the Affordable Housing on Faith and Higher Education Lands Act of 2023, a highly anticipated bill to streamline affordable housing on land owned by religious institutions and...more
During the summer of 2023, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) released its updated Statewide Determination Summary for Senate Bill (SB) 35. In its report, HCD determined only 7% of California...more
CITY OF LOS ANGELES - Site Plan Review Exemption for Affordable Housing - On June 30, 2023, the city council adopted an amendment to the Site Plan Review Ordinance to exempt deed-restricted affordable housing units from...more
A hotly debated topic at this year’s MIPIM was strategies for the mitigation of carbon emissions within the real estate industry, including those emanating from the construction phase of new buildings or refurbishments, and...more
A measure known as the “Builder’s Remedy” added to the state’s Housing Accountability Act in 1990 has suddenly become the focus of developers looking to bypass typical zoning rules and build high-rise apartment projects....more
Rent control expands as tenants struggle with the record-high cost of housing - NPR – November 28 - In November, voters in Florida, Maine, and California approved ballot measures to impose or tighten caps on rent hikes....more
Judge rejects lawsuit over California housing density bill (SB 10) Bullet Courthouse News Service – May 12 Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James Chalfant held last week that the California Legislature has the...more
The California Legislature and Governor approved three key housing bills in 2021, to facilitate housing production in California. SB 8 (Senator Skinner) extends and expands the Housing Crisis Act of 2019 (SB 330). SB 9...more
Environmental groups oppose developer’s plan to fill in part of Redwood City tidal lagoon to build apartment complex - Bullet The Mercury News – August 10 - Environmental groups are opposing a developer’s plan to...more
San Diego eviction ban survives legal challenge - The San Diego Union-Tribune – July 28 - San Diego County’s strict eviction ban has survived its first legal challenge in federal court. Unlike most of California, San...more
The pace of construction of new housing in California consistently falls far short of demand. As much as 100,000 housing units per year are needed, and fewer than 15 percent of that need is constructed each year, resulting in...more
Signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom on May 20, 2021, and taking immediate effect as an "urgency statute," Senate Bill (SB) 7 revives and expands the previously enacted Environmental Leadership Development Project...more
Biden’s climate pledge for first time pushes U.S. beyond California goals - KQED – April 27 - Phasing out all new sales of gas-powered cars by 2035 and achieving carbon neutrality 10 years later are just a few of...more
Biden infrastructure plan includes billions for electric vehicles and building retrofitting - The Hill – March 31 - President Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure proposal unveiled last week includes a suite of measures...more
Deb Haaland confirmed as first Native American Cabinet secretary - NPR – March 15 - Deb Haaland, a member of New Mexico's Laguna Pueblo, has become the first Native American Cabinet secretary in U.S. history. The...more
EPA withdraws toxicity assessment of PFAS contaminant, citing political interference - Chemical & Engineering News – February 10 - Citing a January 27 presidential directive on scientific integrity and evidence-based...more
This year’s Policy Address was delivered today (25th November 2020) amidst the backdrop of a changing and dynamic environment. The Chief Executive (“CE”) has set out a variety of key initiatives to address the city’s land and...more
On April 6, 2020, the Judicial Council of California (Council) adopted a court rule that tolled statutes of limitations for all civil causes of action until 90 days after the Governor declares that the state of emergency is...more
A Summary of Published Appellate Opinions Under the California Environmental Quality Act - The California Supreme Court issued its only CEQA opinion of 2018 at the end of the year. In Sierra Club v. County of Fresno, the...more
Environmental and Policy Focus - As Trump enters White House, California renews climate change fight - Reuters - Jan 20 - California released new measures to fight climate change within minutes of Donald...more