Focus
White House aims to accelerate environmental permitting for data centers
Allen Matkins – August 6
On July 23, 2025, the White House issued an Executive Order titled “Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure.” Released alongside “America’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Plan,” the Order reflects a broader federal goal to reduce permitting delays for large-scale data center projects supporting AI workloads and national infrastructure. The reforms focus on streamlining federal environmental review and permitting processes, thereby aiming to address longstanding regulatory hurdles that have historically contributed to project delays and cost overruns.
News
Judge orders Beverly Hills to process 19-story Builder’s Remedy development
Urbanize LA – August 15
A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge has ruled that Beverly Hills must process a proposed Builder’s Remedy high-rise just south of Wilshire Boulevard. The project calls for the construction of a 19-story, approximately 200-foot-tall building featuring 165 apartments - 20 percent of which would be rented to lower income households - and a 73-room hotel. At the time the project was submitted for approval in 2023, the City of Beverly Hills had yet to secure state certification for its 2021-2029 Housing Element. The decision may have implications for similar projects in the works throughout Beverly Hills.
Settlement paves way for affordable homes in Goleta after legal battle
Davis Vanguard – August 7
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a settlement that will allow a long-stalled affordable housing project in the City of Goleta to move forward. The agreement follows a ruling by the Santa Barbara County Superior Court siding with the Attorney General and the developer against the city’s refusal to process a revised application for a 56-unit housing project, 19.6 percent of which will be affordable to lower-income households. The dispute began when the City of Goleta rejected a revised Senate Bill 330 preliminary application submitted in November 2023 by the developer for a housing development on a parcel located at 7400 Cathedral Oaks Road.
Hidden in federal spending package: A surprise boost to California’s affordable housing
CalMatters – August 12
California lawmakers are preparing for a historic surge in federal funding for affordable housing construction, a subsidy that advocates say could as much as double the number of low-rent units produced by the state over the next decade. Buried deep among the cuts to social services the federal reconciliation package dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill is an increase in support for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit that affordable housing advocates have sought for years. Those tax credits are the most important federal funding available for affordable housing, and they’re used in low-income projects throughout California.
Rancho Palos Verdes to ban new construction in landslide zone
Los Angeles Times – August 6
Rancho Palos Verdes has moved forward with plans to permanently ban new construction across 715 acres of land that has been plagued by dramatic and destructive landslide movement over the last two years. City council members voted unanimously to prohibit almost all new development, including home additions, throughout the landslide zone, which encompasses approximately 400 homes and 130 vacant, privately owned lots across three neighborhoods.
New housing ordinance that could exponentially densify single lots in Santa Monica approved despite opposition
Santa Monica Daily Press – August 11
The Santa Monica City Council voted 5-2 at their last meeting to approve an emergency zoning ordinance that dramatically expands housing development possibilities in single-family neighborhoods, allowing up to 20 units on vacant residential lots and permitting three-story buildings in areas previously restricted to single-family homes. The measure extends and amends regulations tied to California's Senate Bill 1123, also called the Starter Home Revitalization Act, which became effective July 1.
*This article may require a subscription to read.
[View source.]
