Insights on Land Development

In the City of Los Angeles, whether you can sell alcohol or operate a cannabis business depends heavily on your zone — but the two run through completely different approval systems. Alcohol uses City alcohol authorization; cannabis runs through a separate DCR licensing framework, not a conventional CUP.

"Affordable Housing" is a regulatory category. Affordability is whether a person can actually pay their rent. In California, those two things have drifted dangerously far apart — and understanding the gap is essential to fixing it.

California's shift from subjective design review to objective design standards is one of the most consequential — and underappreciated — housing reforms of the decade. Here's what objective standards are, how they unlock streamlined approvals, and why we support them.

Commercial and residential development follow very different rules, timelines, and risk profiles. Here is how they compare and what it means for your next project.

Nearly every meaningful development requires engaging with government officials — and much of that engagement is legally defined as lobbying. Here's how to advocate for your project effectively while staying on the right side of registration, disclosure, and ethics rules.

Proximity to utility lines, easements, and transportation corridors can make or break a development project. Here is how to evaluate utility transportation before you buy.

Opening a restaurant with a liquor license, a daycare, an auto shop, or a cannabis dispensary? You'll likely need a Conditional Use Permit. Here's exactly how the CUP process works — and how a small business owner can navigate it without derailing their opening.

Utility connections can make or break a development timeline. Here's how city planning, infrastructure phasing, and utility coordination intersect — and what developers need to know to avoid costly delays.

Energy development has created a new layer of property rights that sits alongside — and sometimes conflicts with — traditional surface and mineral estates. Here's how to analyze, value, and negotiate energy rights across the full spectrum of development.

California's Starter Home Revitalization Act just got more powerful. Here's how SB 684 and SB 1123 are creating ministerial pathways for small lot subdivisions — and what developers need to know to take advantage.

Power availability has become the primary constraint in data center development. Here's what developers need to know about utility infrastructure, easements, and the real property considerations that determine whether a site can actually be energized.

Development rights are among the most valuable — and most misunderstood — assets in LA real estate. Here's how to analyze, value, and strategically distribute development rights across your portfolio.

California just passed its most significant CEQA reforms in decades. AB 130 creates a new statutory exemption for infill housing, while SB 131 streamlines review for projects that narrowly miss existing exemptions. Here's what developers need to know.

The difference between a profitable development and a costly mistake often comes down to what you discover — or miss — in due diligence. Here's the comprehensive framework for analyzing LA development sites.

California just made it dramatically easier to build, legalize, and profit from ADUs. From automatic approvals to 8-unit multifamily allowances, here's what the 2026 law changes mean for developers and investors.

California's most powerful housing tool just got rewritten. AB 1893 imposes new density caps and affordability requirements — but also offers reduced affordability thresholds and new protections against local obstruction. Here's how the new rules reshape entitlement strategy.

LA Metro is racing to build 10,000 homes on agency-owned land by 2031 — with half reserved as affordable. The North Hollywood mega-project just broke ground. Here's what it means for developers eyeing transit corridors.

One year after the Palisades and Eaton fires destroyed nearly 13,000 homes, LA's fire zones are becoming a testing ground for faster permitting, higher density, and new construction models. Here's what the development community needs to know.

Sacramento just handed Los Angeles developers a new toolkit. From CEQA exemptions to transit-oriented density overrides, here are the five state laws that will define the 2026 pipeline.

The Citywide Adaptive Reuse Ordinance just went into effect — opening every neighborhood in Los Angeles to office-to-housing conversions. Here's what it means for investors and developers.

Base zoning tells you what a site is. Incentive stacking tells you what it can become. Here's how LA developers are combining density bonus, CHIP, TOC, and ED1 to unlock projects that by-right zoning would never allow.

Inside the 52 active zoning cases before the LA City Planning Commission — and what they reveal about where density is really going.

2026 LA Development Outlook — Part 1: The Policy & Planning Landscape