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High Speed Rail Accelerates Construction Timeline Despite Federal Pushback
California's High Speed Rail Authority is accelerating the timeline for 2026 rail instillation, approving issuance of invitations for bids for high-speed rail components for the initial 119-mile Central Valley segment of the line. The Authority gave a total approved cost of $507 million with 6 to 12-month lead times for these contracts. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is set to cancel more a $175 million dollar federal grant for track, overcrossings, and a station in Madera, citing slow progress and cost overruns. The High-Speed Rail Authority accused the administration of politically motivated cuts, and said progress is being made, with 171 miles under design and construction in the Central Valley with 70 miles of guideway and 57 structures already complete. The original 2008 plan for 800 miles of high-speed rail spanning from LA to San Francisco was estimated to cost $33 billion. The HSRA's current focus of a Bakersfield - Merced line is now estimated to cost $35 billion, with entire project believed to total between $89 and $128 billion. Despite years of delays and cost overruns, support for the project remains strong among Californians. U.S. High Speed Rail, a nonprofit advocacy group co-chaired by former Republican congressman and USDOT secretary Ray LaHood, found that 62% of Californians support building the project. (See related CP&DR coverage.)
Yucaipa Approves Controversial Warehouse Development
The Yucaipa City Council narrowly approved an update to the Freeway Corridor Specific Plan, clearing the way for the Pacific Oaks Commerce Center, a two-million-square-foot warehouse and office project. The revision shifts some development reviews from public hearings to administrative approvals, increases business park space and reduces regional commercial capacity while adding limited new housing. Supporters emphasized the project’s financial benefits, including $14 million in impact fees and $35 million in required infrastructure investments, framing it as a long-term economic opportunity after years of delays. Opponents, including Mayor Pro Tem Chris Venable and many residents, argued the plan reduces government transparency, exaggerates infrastructure benefits and will worsen pollution, traffic and the loss of open space. The ordinance requires a second council vote before final adoption, which would make the project one of Yucaipa’s largest recent developments. (See related CP&DR coverage.)
Cupertino Defies State on Application of Builders Remedy
The City of Cupertino is embroiled in a legal clash with the Department of Housing and Community Development over how long developers have to fix incomplete housing applications. Via a letter recently sent to HCD, the city insists the Permit Streamlining Act allows just one 90-day correction period, after which a project expires, while the state says each new incompleteness ruling resets the 90-day clock indefinitely. The dispute has already triggered lawsuits from developers, backed by housing advocacy groups, who argue Cupertino wrongfully rejected projects and is violating state housing law. If courts side with developers, projects could bypass local zoning under the builder’s remedy, a consequence tied to Cupertino’s delayed housing plan compliance. As the state reviews Cupertino’s response, advocates warn the city is risking further legal trouble while resisting pressure to deliver thousands of new homes, including affordable units, by 2031. (See related CP&DR coverage.)
Oakland to Create City Office to Address Homelessness
The City of Oakland will create the Office of Homelessness Solutions, funded by newly available Alameda County tax revenue from Measure W. The office will focus on building shelter capacity and rehousing individuals to prevent 2,500 people from becoming homeless per year. Currently around a third of Oakland's 5,500 homeless residents are sheltered. The city has not shared how many staff will be hired for the new office or whether any existing city employees from other departments will be reassigned. Oakland's chief housing policy director Sasha Hauswald will serve as the office's interim chief. The initiative comes as Oakland struggles to address homelessness amidst financial constraints, with multiple shelter bed vendors ceasing work with the city because of delayed payments. A portion of Measure W funding will also be used for permanent housing for previously homeless individuals.
Report Details Population Trends for Los Angeles County
The USC Lusk Center for Real Estate released its inaugural State of Los Angeles County Housing and Neighborhoods report, a comprehensive report on the housing and demographic landscape of the county. The report found that the immigration-driven growth of the 20th century has reversed, with the county's population falling by 5 percent since 2015. The share of households with children has fallen to below the national average, but housing demand has stayed strong thanks to an increase in total households. The center found that new housing is being built far too slowly for demand: total housing construction has fallen drastically since the 20th century, and the vast majority of new units are out of reach for lower-income families. Additionally, the permit to completion times of projects in LA are nearly triple the national average. The home ownership rate is at 45%, the lowest in over 50 years, with the steepest declines in home ownership since 2010 coming for middle-class families and Black families. The rental market remains one of the most expensive in the nation, with more than 90% of renters earning under $50,000 spending over 30% of their income on housing. Homelessness continues to grow, although the increase in housing options for homeless people reduced the unsheltered rate to a 10-year low of 65%. The vast majority of unhoused Angelenos lived in the city before becoming homeless, showing the link between housing affordability and homelessness. (See related CP&DR coverage.)
CP&DR Coverage: A New World of Exactions
A couple of weeks ago, the appellate court in Sacramento ruled on the merits of the famous Sheetz exactions case, which went to the U.S. Supreme Court last year. The case got kicked back down to the Third District Court of Appeal because SCOTUS, characteristically, did not rule on the merits of the case. Instead, SCOTUS ruled against the standard California practice of giving cities and counties more leeway on exactions if they are imposed by a legislative act – such as a General Plan – rather than on a one-off project-level basis. Back in the Third District Court of Appeal, a three-judge panel said averaging was good enough. That’s almost certainly not the end of the story. Sheetz is represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation, the public interest law firm that raises funds for pro-property rights cases and does not charge its clients. That means a certain trip back to the California Supreme Court – which may again decline to take the case – and to SCOTUS.
Quick Hits & Updates
U-Haul's Midyear Migration Trends report found that California residents moving out of the state are primarily moving to Texas, Colorado, and Tennessee, with the most popular metropolitan areas including Houston, Las Vegas, and Denver. For people moving into California, the top ten states of origin were Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Florida, Illinois, and New York. Riverside, San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, Sacramento and Bakersfield drew the most new arrivals, a substantial percentage of which were California residents moving from a different part of the state, the report found.
Unions and advocacy groups in Los Angeles are demanding a “New Deal” from the LA28 Olympic committee, calling for major housing investments, a ban on short-term rentals and protections for workers to prevent displacement during upcoming mega-events. While organizers argue these measures are essential to address the city’s housing crisis, Olympic officials and Airbnb counter that the Games will generate jobs, revenue and necessary lodging for millions of visitors.
A new study warns that downtown Los Angeles could lose nearly $70 billion in office value and $353 million in property tax revenue over the next decade unless underused towers are repurposed. To counter this, developers and city leaders are championing office-to-housing conversions like the L.A. Care tower project on 7th Street, which will transform a 1980s high-rise office building into new apartments.
Monaco billionaire Patrice Pastor, who has spent over $100 million buying properties in Carmel-by-the-Sea, says he will pull back from the town after years of frustration with what he calls unreasonable delays and nitpicking over his development plans. Despite redesigning projects multiple times to fit Carmel’s strict architectural rules, Pastor claims city leaders and residents have unfairly blocked his efforts, leading him to reconsider his investments in the city.
Rancho Palos Verdes City Council will ban new construction in a landslide zone which has experienced dramatic and destructive landslides in the past two years. The 715-acre zone contains 430 homes and 130 vacant privately owned lots. The changes would allow repair, restoration, and even replacement of existing homes as long as they do not increase in square footage.
Researchers have found that chronic groundwater overuse in the San Joaquin Valley has caused significant land subsidence, reducing home values by 2.4% to 5.4%, or $6,689 to $16,165 per property, across eight counties. The study highlights the lasting economic impacts of subsidence on homeowners and underscores the importance of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act to slow or prevent further damage.
A new nationwide analysis of housing cost and rent data by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that increasing housing supply for all income levels levels slows cost increases the most for older, cheaper apartments. While most new apartments are expensive, even increasing supply for high-income residents quickly frees up housing in low-income areas by preventing and reversing displacement.
A study published in the Science Advances journal confirmed that climate change is responsible for California's earlier wildfire seasons. Scientists found that hotter, drier conditions elevated fire risk and pushed the start of fire season earlier by a week to up to two months in different regions. Max Moritz, a co-author of the study, also stressed that increasingly unpredictable rainfall will lead to more extreme years, some with high rainfall decreasing fire activity, and some with extreme drought conditions increasing wildfires.
A ballot initiative has been introduced to repeal Proposition 103, a 1988 law that regulates insurance rates. The measure would make the state insurance commissioner an appointed position instead of an elected one, update wildfire risk mapping every three years, and change processes for reinsurance costs and mitigation credits. Supporters say it would increase competition and bring insurers back to the state, while opponents say it would increase insurance costs and weaken consumer protections.
