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)
California CRE to Expand in 2022
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Originally enacted in 1970, the objective of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) was to review projects to assess potential impacts on the environment, disclose those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 18 June 2025, the German Federal Cabinet adopted a draft law to accelerate residential construction and secure housing (Schneller bauen mit dem Wohnungsbau-Turbo | Bundesregierung) in order to implement the 100-day target...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
Deep in the 1,100 pages of the “big, beautiful bill” is a plan to retool and extend one of the big policies from the first Trump administration: Opportunity Zones. Under this tax incentive program, investors defer capital...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 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
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
In a show of bipartisan and bicameral unity, California lawmakers on Tuesday unveiled a sweeping 20-bill legislative package aimed at overhauling the state’s housing development process. Branded as the “Fast Track Housing”...more
Commonhold is a form of freehold ownership, where each unit holder owns their own unit (which could be a flat, shop or office unit), and together they own their communal areas through a “commonhold association” - a company...more
Montgomery County is taking decisive action to expand affordable housing options and support the County’s residents with the More Housing N.O.W. (New Options for Worker) legislation package....more
The Los Angeles City Council last Friday granted final approval to a sweeping rezoning plan that aims to boost housing development along commercial corridors and existing dense residential neighborhoods. In a 14-0 vote,...more
As in previous years, California saw a significant volume of new housing legislation emerge from Sacramento in 2024. (See Holland & Knight's previous annual recaps of California Housing Laws in the final section below.) This...more
The Massachusetts Affordable Homes Act (H. 4977), signed into law on August 6, 2024, includes provisions intended to promote residential housing construction. These provisions: (1) require municipalities to permit accessory...more
On Tuesday, August 6th, Governor Healey signed into law House Bill 4977, “An Act relative to the Affordable Homes Act.” The 181-page Bill provides for $5.1 billion in capital funding to support housing production and...more
Credit goes to the City of Miami staff for becoming among, if not the first Florida municipality, to publish their updated interpretation and guidelines for Live Local Act 2024 (SB328). With the new clarifications generally,...more
Florida Governor DeSantis just signed into law Senate Bill 328 (“SB328”), the enhancement to last year’s Live Local Act (“LLA” or “SB102”). The amendments made to the Live Local Act by SB328 are significant in both benefits...more
New York state has enacted changes in the housing laws that will have a significant impact on the development and operation of multifamily housing in New York City and the state, and will also ameliorate the effects of...more