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
Pritzker acts upon 269 bills, vetoes 2, signs 'lawsuit inferno' measure - “In a Friday announcement of the status of 269 bills, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed legislation which led opponents to call Illinois a “Lawsuit...more
What Happened? At both federal and state levels, there has been notable increased governmental scrutiny of institutional investment in the single-family rental market and concern about its impact on rising housing costs in...more
We start our August Alert with some potentially very good news. The RENTAL Act, a bill to reform TOPA, passed its first vote by the DC Council on July 28, 2025. The RENTAL Act includes, among other things, a blanket exemption...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
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 seventh 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
On June 30, 2025, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two budget trailer bills—AB 130 and SB 131—that together work major changes both to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and California housing law. Because these bills...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
Single-family-only zoning has officially ended in the City of Seattle. On May 27, 2025, the Seattle City Council passed CB 120969 to comply with RCW 36.70A.635, which requires adoption of development regulations allowing for...more
On June 30, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed two budget bills that contained the most significant reforms to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in decades, effective immediately. These changes create an...more
On June 30, 2025, Governor Newsom signed into law a sweeping set of housing and infrastructure reforms as part of the 2025–2026 State Budget, marking one of the most significant overhauls of the California Environmental...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
NYC Mayoral Primary Results - On June 24, Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani received the most first-choice votes in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, securing 43.5% of ballots. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo received...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
Effective July 1, 2025, the realty transfer tax rate for properties or acquired real estate companies sold in the City and County of Philadelphia will increase to 3.578%, in addition to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania realty...more
Mayor Parker, Council President Johnson Reviving 90s-Era Collaboration -Over the first year in their respective positions, Mayor Cherelle Parker and City Council President Kenyatta Johnson have intentionally worked to build a...more
City Council Passes FY26 Budget, HOME Bills- During their final meeting before summer recess, the City Council passed a staggering 58 bills, including the FY26 Capital and Operating Budgets, business and wage tax cuts, and...more
As part of an ongoing effort to address the affordable housing shortage, the Connecticut General Assembly has passed Senate Bill No. 1444 which is designed to facilitate the conversion of certain buildings to residential use....more