At the heart of things, according to county prosecutors, are Councilman Jim Ayers and developers Stephen Holgate and Robert Osborne. Prosecutors say the developers funneled a combined $200,000 in campaign contributions through a variety of intermediaries into Ayers’ unsuccessful 2006 campaign for Assembly and his successful 2008 council re-election bid. 

California is often considered to be two different states – north and south. But when it comes to planning and urban development patterns, the state is more properly divided east and west, or possibly inland and coastal. The real estate boom of earlier this decade only exacerbate

The City of Berkeley’s approval of density bonuses for a mixed-use project has been upheld by the First District Court of Appeal, which rejected a project opponent’s contention that the city had wrongly applied the state density bonus law. The court built on the two-year-old deci

All of sudden, or so it seems, a stadium mania has overtaken California. The dreams, schemes and honest-to-goodness plans for football and baseball stadiums are coming so fast that it’s difficult to keep track of them. I concede this list could be outdated at almost any moment, b

Almost in spite of itself, Los Angeles has emerged as a city focused on transit. The big question now is whether L.A. can move from being a city focused on transit to a transit-oriented city. No metro area in the Western United States is investing in transit as heavily as L.A., a

An appellate court has refused a developer’s request to order the City of Sebastopol to approve an environmental impact report on which the city began work in 2001. Although it conceded the environmental review process has been lengthy, the court said it lacked authority under th

For all the appeal that “streamlining” would seem to offer, Gov. Jerry Brown's housing proposal has drawn stiff criticism – including some from traditional proponents of affordable housing.

Localities weighed in on marijuana, fracking, development, and more on June 6. 

The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling gives property owners the ability to challenge the Army Corps' "jurisdictional determination" of wetlandsbefore seeking a permit. >>read more

Like a monster that’s been hiding in the basement for decades, rent control is rearing its head in the Bay Area. Whether it is an ugly countenance or a smiling face is a matter of perspective.

What do touchdowns, trade shows, room service, rivers, and dorm rooms have in common? In San Diego, quite a bit. Spooked by the possible relocation of the San Diego Chargers football team, the city is doubling down on opportunities not only to retain the Chargers but also to purs

BEVERLY HILLS, May 2, 2016 - As the saying goes, when you're holding a hammer, the world looks like a nail. What if you have a 3-D printer instead of a hammer? \n If you're Eric Schmidt, you build houses.