Creative Reuse: The Opportunities and Challenges of Converting Office Space to Residential
California CRE to Expand in 2022
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
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
The new Ohio budget signed June 30, 2025 (the Budget Bill or HB 96) enacts substantial changes to Ohio Revised Code Section 122.09, the Transformational Mixed-Use Development Tax Credit (TMUD Tax Credit). The TMUD Tax...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 28, 2025, the New York City Council approved the city-led Atlantic Avenue Mixed Use Plan (AAMUP, pronounced "aim up"), rezoning a low-density industrial stretch of Atlantic Avenue and surrounding blocks in Brooklyn’s...more
On March 20, 2025, the New York City Planning Commission (CPC) certified the city-led Jamaica Neighborhood Plan into public review. The plan would facilitate the creation of 12,000 new residential units, including...more
In a further effort to revitalize and reimagine its downtown core, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors has passed and the Mayor has signed legislation exempting certain residential conversion projects from development impact...more
On January 21, 2025, the New York City Planning Commission (CPC) certified the city-led Midtown South Mixed-Use (MSMX) Plan into public review. The MSMX Plan is the first piece of the Adams administration’s “Manhattan Plan,”...more
On Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, the City Planning Commission certified for public review zoning map and text amendment applications (the Proposal) that would create a new Special Midtown South Mixed-Use District (MSX Special...more
On November 22, 2024, the First District Court of Appeal’s (Div. 4) partially-published opinion in People of the State of California ex rel. Bonta v. County of Lake (Lotusland Investment Holdings, Inc., et al. Real Parties in...more
On September 19, 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom approved Assembly Bill (AB) 2243 (Wicks), which amends AB 2011 (Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022), effective January 1, 2025. As explained in our prior legal...more
The Live Local Act (Act), originally passed on March 29, 2023, was modified by SB328 on May 16, 2024. While the Act has been heralded as a solution to Florida’s affordable housing shortage, it has faced roadblocks since its...more
The Sixth District Court of Appeal filed on July 24, and later certified for publication on August 6, 2024, its opinion in Center for Biological Diversity et al. v. County of San Benito, et al. (2024) __ Cal.App.5th __. The...more
The Office of Planning (OP) has worked with Ivy City residents, community stakeholders and Washington, D.C., government agencies to develop the Ivy City Small Area Plan (ICSAP). Ivy City is a historically Black neighborhood...more
The City of Gaithersburg has adopted a comprehensive new zoning ordinance that reorganizes and modernizes the ordinance while making it more user friendly. Substantively, the new ordinance adds a new potential zoning category...more
The Florida Legislature on Feb. 28, 2024, passed Senate Bill 328, which amends the Live Local Act (Amended Act). It becomes effective upon becoming law (except as otherwise provided). While most of the 2023 Live Local Act...more
2023 served up roughly the same number of published appellate CEQA cases as 2022 with a defense win percentage of over 80 percent, which has been the case in many, if not all, of the past ten years. A prominent theme of...more
The 2023 legislative session culminated in Governor Newsom signing dozens of land use bills. This post discusses the most important. The Legislature continued its multifaceted approach to addressing the housing crisis, with...more
Historically, the United Kingdom has lagged behind the likes of Dubai, South Florida, New York, Hong Kong SAR and Singapore in the branded residences space, as us Brits have tended to prefer traditional house living. However,...more
A recent court decision provides guidance to lead agencies seeking to comply with CEQA requirements related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In Tsakopoulos Investments, LLC v. County of Sacramento, the Third District Court...more
The refusal of M&S's plans to demolish and rebuild their flagship store on Oxford Street by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Michael Gove) has attracted much attention because of the wider...more
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law Senate Bill 102 on March 28, 2023, with an effective date of July 1, 2023. Commonly referred to as the Live Local Act (the Act), it has significant land use, zoning and tax benefits...more
In 2022, the California Legislature passed The Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022, known as Assembly Bill (AB) 2011 and the Middle Class Housing Act of 2022, known as Senate Bill (SB) 6. The two pieces of...more
On July 1, 2023, Senate Bill (SB) 6 (Caballero) – also known as the Middle Class Housing Act of 2022 – went into effect. Under the bill, if a project site is currently zoned for commercial retail or parking use, a developer...more
On March 29, 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 102 (the Act), otherwise known as the Live Local Act, into law. The Act becomes effective on July 1. This broad-ranging legislation is intended to incentivize the...more