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
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
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
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
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 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
On June 20, 2025, the Adams Administration and the Department of City Planning (DCP) initiated public engagement for the 'Manhattan Plan,' a proposal to add 100,000 new homes in Manhattan over the next decade. The Plan aims...more
The San Diego City Council voted on March 4, 2025, to begin the process of revising its Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Bonus Program (ADU Bonus Program or Program), which has served, to date, as one of the state’s most...more
On June 4, 2025, the Prince William County Board of Supervisors approved a new Affordable Dwelling Unit Ordinance that becomes effective on Dec. 1, 2025. The ordinance, adopted under the authority of Virginia Code...more
On May 29, 2025, the Supreme Court held that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) — which requires federal agencies to analyze the environmental impacts of projects that they carry out, fund, or approve — does not...more
The New York City Council approved the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan (AAMUP) on May 28, 2025. This initiative represents a significant rezoning aimed at transforming a key corridor in Central Brooklyn, which has been zoned...more
On May 12, 2025, Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing tabled Bill 17, the Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, 2025, for first reading. Bill 17 is intended to remove barriers to building,...more
Available data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that Oregon is not meeting Gov. Tina Kotek’s housing production goal of 36,000 new homes per year, nor is it on pace to address the need identified by the 2024 Oregon...more
On April 21, 2025, the New York City Planning Commission (CPC) certified the city-led Long Island City Neighborhood Plan, known as OneLIC, into public review. OneLIC seeks to build on Long Island City’s status as one of...more
The City of Denver (“Denver”) released the first draft of its proposed amendment to the Denver Zoning Code (“Zoning Code”) known as Modernizing Parking Requirements Text Amendment (“Text Amendment”), in which it proposes...more
Tall buildings have hugely contributed to London’s sense of place and rightful place as a world-leading financial centre. They have made a defined impact on the London skyline particularly in the period between 2000-2019 when...more
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has released a rezoning plan to allow taller buildings along transit routes from the Marina to the Sunset and Richmond districts, changes he said would accommodate 36,000 new housing units...more
Uncertainty Around Implementation of House Bill 24-1313: Housing in Transit-Oriented Communities - Last year, the Colorado legislature passed House Bill 24-1313 (the “Act”), which aimed to incentivize transit-oriented...more
Each month, Chile’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Development issues circulars from the Urban Development Division (DDU). Below, we provide a brief summary highlighting the key points from the circulars issued in February and...more
In response to housing shortages throughout the state, Colorado legislators are proposing policy changes relating to affordable housing. House Bill 25-1169 (“HB25-1169”) is one of the most significant bills proposed to date....more
A roundup of news and multimedia from the Unfamiliar Terrain team: San Francisco - Mayor Lurie launches initiative to speed up S.F.’s slow permitting process (SF Chronicle): The Mayor announced a new effort to...more
Last Friday, Massachusetts’ “Unlocking Housing Production Commission,” established by Gov. Maura Healey in October, 2023, released its report titled “Building for Tomorrow.” The report lays out a series of recommendations to...more