Topic
Housing Development
98 published works
Real Estate Insights
Getting to grips with the new Building Safety Act Gateway regime – how will this impact development in the living sector?
By Tim Collier
One of the key parts of the Building Safety Act 2022 is the new Gateway regime for 'higher risk buildings', which came into full force on 1 October 2023 This…
Employment Law Lookout
DC Proposes Tax Abatement to Incentivize Conversion to Housing Development
By Ronald S. Gart Seyfarth Synopsis: The District of Columbia’s office market, particularly Class B and C properties, is facing a calamity of epic proportions with occupancy, revenues, and valuations…
Administrative and Regulatory
HAA does not Mandate Approval of Housing Project Found Inconsistent with Zoning
By Samuel D. Bacal-Graves, Kathryn L. Oehlschlager
In Snowball West Investments L.P. v. City of Los Angeles (2023) 96 Cal.App.5th 1054, the Second District Court of Appeal addressed the “rezoning exemption” of the Housing Accountability Act (HAA), finding…
CEQA Developments
Reversal of Misfortune: Second District Holds CEQA Action Challenging Los Angeles Housing Development Project Barred By Statute of Limitations, Reverses Trial Court Judgment Rejecting MND and Requiring EIR
In a published opinion filed on January 17, 2024, the Second District Court of Appeal (Div. 5) reversed a trial court judgment overturning a mitigated negative declaration (MND) and requiring…
California Land Use & Development Law Report
Denial of Affordable Housing Project Violated Both Streamlining Statute and Housing Accountability Act
By Kaela Shiigi
A trial court had jurisdiction to find that a denial of a permit application violated the Housing Accountability Act (HAA) on remand, even though the Court of Appeal did not…
Daniel S. Gonzales Blog
Mountain View and Los Altos Hills targeted for “builder’s remedy” projects
Over the last several years, a plethora of legislation has been adopted in Sacramento with the intention of spurring housing development in California in response to our housing crisis, with…
Daniel S. Gonzales Blog
Is CEQA being weaponized against housing development?
The California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) has been a regular topic of discussion in this blog over the years, from challenges to local zoning bans against mobile medical marijuana dispensaries, to the…
Daniel S. Gonzales Blog
Protracted legal odyssey ends in victory for Lafayette housing development
A twelve-year saga of pitched battles between housing advocates, developers and an obdurate NIMBY (“Not in My Backyard”) assemblage was finally resolved last month by California’s First District Court of…
Land Use Law Blog
CITY CORRECTLY APPPLIES SEVEN-YEAR-OLD DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS WHEN APPROVING A RESIDENTIAL PROJECT
By Abbott & Kindermann, Inc., Patrick L. Enright
Lafayette v. City of Lafayette (2022) 2022 Cal.App.LEXIS 979 A citizens’ group (Save Lafayette) petitioned for a Writ of Mandate, claiming that the project conflicts with the City’s General Plan…
Real Estate, Land Use & Environmental Law Blog
2022 CEQA Legislative Recap
In response to developers’ continued cry for meaningful reform, changes to or exemptions from the California Environmental Quality Act (Pub. Res. Code §§ 21000 et seq.) (CEQA) are often included…