Duplexes and townhomes do not always make housing cheaper

Not every housing policy labeled “affordable” is actually designed to make housing more affordable. That is the central problem with today’s “missing middle” debate. Across the country, duplexes, triplexes, courtyard apartments, townhomes and small multifamily buildings are being promoted as the solution to America’s housing affordability crisis. The argument sounds clean and appealing: allow more […]

Florida county’s impact fees put new Live Local projects at risk

Indianapolis-based apartment developer Milhaus started building an apartment project in Manatee County, Florida, under the state’s Live Local Act after securing its funding earlier this year. It may be one of the few to be built in the county, next to Sarasota, under the law, until lawsuits over a major increase in impact fees are […]

NYC office conversions face scrutiny after Pfizer HQ incident

Buckling columns at the former Pfizer headquarters this week forced evacuations across seven Midtown East blocks. The incident raises new questions about office-to-residential conversion, one of several tools the city has used to add housing. It is also a tool Mayor Zohran Mamdani leaned into because it fit his affordability narrative. Mamdani has framed housing […]

North Carolina kicks parking rules to the curb in statewide reform

North Carolina housing advocates have tried for years to pass state-level zoning reform. They kept falling short. Broad reforms met the same fate in the recently ended session – except one: parking reform. What started as a stormwater management bill became one of the most aggressive parking reforms in the country. It passed with rare […]

San Diego to get more transit housing density as SB 79 row settles

San Diego has spent recent years earning a reputation as one of California’s most aggressive housing builders, streamlining permits citywide. But city leaders hesitated when state law required them to draw boundaries for new housing near neighborhood bus stops. San Diego officials proposed a far tighter map than regional and state regulators wanted. They limited […]

Will the ROAD Act change what pencils for multifamily rentals?

Will the ROAD Act change what pencils for multifamily rentals?
While the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act remains in Oval Office big yawn limbo, its game-changing relevance to multifamily developers, apartment builders, rental housing investors and capital providers is clear. The bill has passed both chambers of Congress by historic bipartisan margins. What it has not yet done is become law. That leaves four […]

California November ballot: a billionaire tax and new local tax limits

California has long been synonymous with high taxes, but new fights over who will pay them are exposing a sharper fault line. The state increasingly reaches for “tax the rich” tools to fund housing and social programs, while anti-tax forces try to constrain those same tools. California’s tax fight is unfolding under a national spotlight. […]

Newsom signs balanced budget with $1.7B locked-in for housing

This time last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a state budget that included sweeping housing reforms that allowed urban residential developers to avoid rigorous environmental reviews. This year’s budget, which Newsom signed on Monday, does not carry the same historic housing reforms as last year. Instead, it is historic for balancing the budget. “For […]