According to the Winter 2026 Allen Matkins/UCLA Anderson Forecast California Commercial Real Estate Survey, retail sector sentiment has strengthened and is now optimistic across all California markets, with the largest...more
According to the nonpartisan California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), homes in California are about twice as expensive as the typical U.S. home. The LAO found that “[p]ayments for a mid-tier home were over $5,500 a...more
As remote work reshapes the commercial real estate market and demand for office space declines, owners and developers are increasingly pursuing office-to-residential conversions as a way to unlock value in underperforming...more
How stranded office assets – and the debt behind them – can be re-priced, re-positioned, and reimagined as the next multifamily pipeline. There is a quiet math problem sitting on balance sheets all over the country – and...more
The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously this Tuesday to make permanent Mayor Bass’ Housing Streamlining Ordinance, cutting project approval times from six to nine months to 60 days....more
California continues its legislative push to address the state’s housing crisis, particularly focusing on “middle-housing” projects that bridge the gap between single-family homes and large apartment buildings (e.g.,...more
Twice in the past five years, San Diego voters have approved ballot initiatives seeking to raise the 30-foot height limit for buildings in the city’s Midway-Pacific Highway Community Planning Area (often referred to as the...more
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 130 and SB 131, which contain among the most significant California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) revisions in recent history. The legislation reflects a high-stakes effort...more
Rhode Island has adopted a slew of new laws concerning land use, zoning, and development. This blog is intended to provide a brief overview of certain noteworthy updates to the law that may be of interest to developers and...more
California is poised to approve legislation that will make it legal to build more multifamily housing near the highest-capacity transit stops across the state, regardless of local zoning restrictions. The California...more
On 30 June 2025, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 130 (AB 130) and Senate Bill 131 (SB 131) into law, introducing some of the most significant changes to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in recent history,...more
The California Legislature took another big swing to promote housing development in battling the continuing housing crisis when it passed Assembly Bill 130 (AB 130) and Senate Bill 131 (SB 131) earlier this year. AB 130...more
With the current housing shortage in California, coupled with recent regulatory changes, multifamily development is robust throughout the state. Perhaps the most consequential recent change is the reform of the California...more
This is the ninth update in our series covering AB 130 and SB 131, two bills that work substantive changes to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and California housing law....more
Senate Bill (SB) 131 includes reforms to litigation procedure under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) intended to relieve the burden on CEQA litigants when preparing the CEQA administrative record and speed up...more
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) has long shaped the state’s development landscape, often entangling projects in lengthy permitting and litigation processes. That landscape has now shifted dramatically. ...more
Part one of a three-part series - Governor Gavin Newsom signed two sweeping budget trailer bills, Assembly Bill 130 (AB 130) and Senate Bill 131 (SB 131), into law on June 30, 2025, enacting meaningful changes to the...more
Two newly enacted California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) reform laws (AB 130 and SB 131) would significantly impact California’s infill housing sector. Our Environment, Land Use & Natural Resources Group unpacks what...more
Introduction - Last week, California enacted the most significant reforms to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) since the mid-1970s. On June 30, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 131 and Assembly Bill 130...more
On February 20, 2025, Senator Scott Wiener introduced Senate Bill No. 607 (SB 607), a proposed law that is relatively short in text length, but which would engender major CEQA reforms if enacted as currently drafted. The...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
Effective July 1, 2023, a new chapter in the California Government Code provides for qualifying multifamily housing developments of five or more units to be a “by right” use and subject only to a streamlined ministerial...more
In Pacific Palisades Residents Association, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles et al. (March 8, 2023, Case No. B306658) __ Cal.App.2d __, the Second District issued a strong opinion affirming the trial court’s ruling that a proposed...more
In IBC Business Owners for Sensible Development v. City of Irvine et al. (Feb. 6 2023, Case No. G060850) ___ Cal.App.5th ___, the Fourth District Court of Appeal held that the City of Irvine (“City”) violated CEQA when it...more
In Protect Tustin Ranch v. City of Tustin, 70 Cal. App. 5th 951 (2021), the court of appeal upheld a city’s reliance on the infill development categorical exemption under CEQA for a new gas station in an existing shopping...more