SBR-Authors Podcast: Finding True Happiness Through Acts of Kindness: A Conversation with Karen Olson
Creative Housing Solutions Pop Up Across Oregon
Affordable Housing on the Front Range: Inclusionary Housing Ordinances and the New Middle Income Housing Authority
Office-to-Apartment Conversions – A Good Idea, but Tricky to Pull Off (Audio)
Episode 15 | Hot! Hot! Hot! Don't get Burned by the Perils of Buying and Selling Residential Real Estate
California CRE to Expand in 2022
BOSTON—City Deploys Sensors to Combat Rat Infestations - Boston officials announced the implementation of a new rodent-tracking sensor system throughout the city to provide data on hotspots and measure the effectiveness of...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
On May 12, 2025, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed into law House Bill 25-1272, creating the Multifamily Construction Incentive Program (MCIP), a voluntary, opt-in framework aimed at encouraging the construction of...more
Across the United States, empty office buildings have become a common sight. According to Moody’s Analytics, office vacancies are at their highest since the 1990s. The COVID hangover has left us with an abundance of vacant or...more
As discussed in our earlier post, California's CEQA landscape has rapidly, and potentially seismically, evolved with the passage of AB 130 and SB 131. This post focuses on the immediate creation of a new statutory exemption,...more
Workforce housing (also referred to as middle-income or essential housing) is becoming a central focus for communities across the country. Whether you’re a city, town, village, housing authority, developer, or part of the...more
A major affordable housing development underway in Fairfax County, Virginia, is setting a new precedent for large-scale, multi-phase transactions in high-cost suburban markets. Located adjacent to the County’s Government...more
As part of Colorado’s broader efforts to close the middle-income housing gap, Fulcrum Communities, a Colorado nonprofit, launched a pilot project using an innovative financing model to deliver workforce housing more quickly...more
This is the eighth 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
It is hard to overstate the current wave of office building conversions. With post-COVID office attendance plateauing well below prior levels and housing shortages in most major cities, the conversion of office buildings is...more
BOSTON—City’s First Office-to-Residential Conversion Project Begins -Construction has officially begun on Boston’s first office-to-residential apartment conversions. This effort is a part of a City pilot program aimed at...more
Note: This is the second 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
Texas House Bill 21 (HB 21), signed into law in May, has dramatically shifted affordable housing tax exemptions across the state. Specifically, HB 21’s primary impact is on a housing finance corporation’s area of operation...more
When District of Columbia Council Chairman Phil Mendelson introduced the Rebalancing Expectations for Neighbors, Tenants and Landlords (RENTAL) Act, there were high hopes that much needed reform to the Tenant Opportunity to...more
In its 89th Regular Session, the Texas Legislature enacted House Bill 21 (HB 21), introducing significant reforms to the way housing finance corporations (HFCs) own and operate multifamily affordable housing developments....more
On June 30, 2025, Governor Mike DeWine signed Amended Substitute House Bill 96 (H.B. 96), establishing Ohio's biennial budget for State fiscal years 2026-2027 (July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2027). This comprehensive budget...more
Originally enacted in 1970, the objective of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) was to review projects to assess potential impacts on the environment, disclose those impacts to the public, and mitigate those...more
On July 3, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Senate’s version of the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, which contains provisions impacting the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC), opportunity zones (OZs) and...more
On June 16, 2025, the San Diego City Council voted 5-4 to cap the number of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) that can be built on single-family lots. The decision reverses the City’s 2020 implementation of a program allowing...more
A roundup of news and multimedia from the Unfamiliar Terrain team: San Francisco - Mayor Lurie names new S.F. planning director (SF Chronicle): Sarah Dennis Phillips has been named the City’s planning director,...more
City Invests in Certifying CTE Teachers- Philadelphia City Council allocated $500,000 to help Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers cover certification costs, addressing a teacher shortage and supporting growing...more
NEW YORK—Waymo Applies for NYC Permit - Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving car unit, plans to begin manually operating vehicles in Manhattan as a first step toward launching autonomous ride-hailing in New York City. The company...more
On May 28, Senate Bill 840 arrived on Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s desk after passing the Texas House and Texas Senate with bipartisan support. Authored by State Senator Bryan Hughes, the bill aims to increase the state’s...more
The UK faces a significant housing crisis due to an acute shortage of homes caused by high capital costs, increasing construction and development expenses, regulatory and political uncertainty, and persistent delays in the...more