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In September, the property's owner, ValueRock, followed up with a preliminary application for a 138-unit apartment complex. The city said it's not a formal housing application and no demolition permit has been filed.
“My client believes the highest and best use for this property is a housing project. Things change and evolve, but that doesn't mean we can't keep some of the great things about this site that people love.”
Developers and land use attorneys say a relatively new law that exempts certain projects from environmental reviews and challenges has added certainty where there was previously mostly risk in the entitlement process.
“We're getting to a point where the legislature has done, with respect to multifamily housing in the infill context, almost as much as it can do.”
Rand Paster & Nelson LLP (“RPN”) announced that attorneys Fred Gaines, Sherman L. Stacey, Kimberly A. Rible, and Alicia B. Bartley have joined the firm as partners.
Politico / 2026
Over the past decade, two movements on the left have emerged to explain the housing crisis punishing America’s big cities. One has branded the real-estate business as a villain, blaming realtors, landlords and developers for soaring costs that force people from their apartments. The other has pointed the finger at homeowners for blocking new construction in their neighborhoods, limiting supply and raising prices.
“She will never be the darling of the development community.”
The Times of San Diego / 2025
Midway Rising is still alive, and if its developers succeed in pushing the project through despite the latest legal setback, they’ll have San Diego to thank.
“Ten years ago this would have been an eye popper and insane to even try. Now it’s a snoozer, legally speaking, at least from my perspective.”
A new affordable housing project in Studio City has sparked debate amongst neighbors due to plans to construct a large apartment building next to single-family homes.
“If we start saying that we can't build multifamily buildings and density in multifamily neighborhoods, particularly when they're 100% affordable housing projects in high resource areas in the city, that is game over for the city of Los Angeles meeting its housing goals.”
Incoming state Senate leader is seeking to reverse new housing reforms — seemingly to undermine a single project in her district.
“I have never seen a special targeted statute designed to specifically impose enhanced CEQA review requirements on a single housing project.”
Less than two days after state lawmakers unveiled plans to put new limits on a controversial real estate tax in the city of Los Angeles, they now have withdrawn the bill.
“We're left with a lot of uncertainty about whether there's a fix in the future. But it desperately needs to happen. Because until it does, we will not be achieving the level and degree of housing production that everybody in the city — regardless of their view about Measure ULA — believes is needed.”
Lawmakers in Sacramento unveiled a proposal this week to overhaul Measure ULA, the so-called mansion tax in Los Angeles, as part of a larger gambit to keep a statewide tax cut measure from making it onto next year’s ballot.
“If lawmakers succeed in cutting Measure ULA’s tax rate, L.A. should expect to see more housing construction”
The Real Deal / 2025
When Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two budget trailer bills that scaled back an environmental law that’s been a frequent scapegoat for the state’s housing woes, it seemed like an offering of sorts to the real estate world.
“The court found in favor of the developer, but had the exemptions existed then, it wouldn’t have been a multi-year process that cost millions of dollars and there wouldn’t have been a need for the thousands of pages of environmental analysis and myriads of technical reports.”
A 19-story hotel and residential project in Beverly Hills must be considered by the city for possible approval, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled last week.
“My hope is that this decision will now create a more pragmatic approach by the city to how these projects move forward.”
Democrats pared back one of the state's preeminent policies to restore trust with voters frustrated by the high cost of living.
“The dam broke on the political resistance. Democrats reading the tea leaves from the last election, catching the abundance wave, realized this is an absolute necessity.”
California leaders did something Monday many once considered impossible: They rolled back portions of a landmark environmental law to make it easier to win approval for housing and other large projects.
“There’s over 10 projects we’re going to push the go button on with this exemption probably Tuesday”
Washington Post / 2025
The revisions to the 55-year-old California Environmental Quality Act are intended to ease “infill” construction in urban areas, among other changes.
“Last night was a combination of euphoria and disbelief,” said Dave Rand, a Los Angeles-based land use attorney, who said he has been “inundated” with requests from clients whose projects have been stymied by the law. “I’ve spent 20 years in a career banging my head against a wall called CEQA and one day that wall broke down,”
Newsweek / 2025
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed two bills on Monday that scaled back the state's environmental restrictions to allow for more home building to combat the ongoing housing shortage.
“Clear, concise, and straightforward CEQA exemptions," predicting that "several projects that have been waiting for this day can now move forward.”
California lawmakers stood around Gov. Gavin Newsom and celebrated the passage of the state budget and “transformative” housing legislation at the state Capitol.
“The worst cog in the wheel has always been CEQA,” Rand said. “It’s always been the place where projects get stuck. This is the first clean, across-the-board, objective, straightforward exemption that anyone can figure out.”
Two bills aimed at sidestepping the hurdles the California Environmental Quality Act poses to new development projects are quickly moving through the adoption process at the state legislature.
“The ultimate third rail of California development politics has been CEQA, and many of us thought that CEQA would never be reformed because the politics could never come into alignment to allow for it to happen.”
The Real Deal / 2025
The Rancho Palos Verdes City Council voted Tuesday to keep the zoning changes it adopted in its housing element last April rather than wade into uncharted legal territory to block a 16-unit development maligned by neighbors on a picturesque ocean bluff overlooking Catalina Island.
“I have to admit, I was a little bit surprised,” Rand said. “I’ve gotten used to these things going badly, but they turned this one around. I give credit to the city council for actually reading the legal objections and taking them seriously and making a prudent decision, even if their constituents weren’t wildly happy.”
California Insider / 2025
For decades, California’s environmental law CEQA has made it harder to build housing, even in places where it makes the most sense. A new reform changes that. In this episode, land use attorney Dave Rand explains how the rules just shifted and why this could open the door to more housing in the communities that need it most.
“I have been working with CEQA for 20 years, virtually most of my professional career, and it has been a version of banging my head against the wall, the CEQA wall, on behalf of projects, frustrated by its many requirements and really its overall dysfunction.”
The Real Deal / 2025
Enviro "rollback" leans to infill, multifamily, bigger builders see “unnecessary costs”
“The degree of change is unprecedented. I’ve never said that before in my career.”
The Real Deal / 2025
The uproar over the project and the city’s efforts to block it has brought Rancho Palos Verdes into dubious legal territory, according to Vahdani’s lawyer, Rand Paster & Nelson’s Dave Rand and pro-housing groups. Now, the City Council is weighing a proposal they say is illegal.
“The Clipper site will become synonymous with housing dysfunction,” Rand said. “It’s one thing for cities to adopt restrictive zoning. This is infinitely worse and more cynical.”
San Francisco Chronicle / 2025
A new Rorschach test for NIMBY California cities and counties has been unlocked: How big of a hole are you willing to blow in your budget to block new housing?
“For “resistance pockets of California municipalities” that want to continue baselessly denying housing projects, “you’re going to have to think twice about doing this — because there’s an astronomical cost and burden to going down this road,”
Beverly Hills is synonymous with high-end shopping, glamorous mansions, boutique hotels and general luxury. High-density housing isn’t something anyone would associate with the city. And yet, a 19-story project could soon rise on its famed shopping street, Rodeo Drive.
“Beverly Hills has been the most difficult jurisdiction in terms of trying to stonewall these projects, to put up any and every roadblock to be as creative as a municipal city attorney [or] planner could possibly be, to invent any reason under the sun why these projects shouldn't be able to move forward”
California Assembly / 2025
California is facing a housing crisis and a climate crisis. The housing shortage of 2.5 million has led to there being nearly 200,000 homeless people in the state, 80% of low-income households cannot afford the rent without sacrificing other basic needs, and only 1 in 6 households can afford the median priced home.
“The two hallmark laws we have in California that dictate and govern the entitlement permitting process in California are the Permit Streamlining Act and the Housing Accountability Act. Those two laws set up a process with a series of steps that if you look at it, sounds like we’ve got everything in order.”
The New York Times / 2025
With so many people displaced and looking for rentals, the region’s housing options could grow even scarcer and more expensive.
“This is a place that had massive affordability challenges last week, and after this week it’s going to be that much more challenging.”
A judge has ruled that the city of Los Angeles illegally blocked low-income housing last year in a neighborhood zoned for single-family homes when officials rejected a developer’s application to build 220 affordable housing units in Reseda.
“Dave Rand, a land use attorney who worked with Evolve on this project, told LAist the court victories should enable developers to start building low-income housing in expensive neighborhoods. “We see this as a win, not not just for lawyers, but for hundreds of new affordable homes that will be added in much needed areas,” Rand said.”
Neighborhood concerns over new housing, including evictions, are spurring the latest changes to Mayor Bass’ signature affordable housing policy, Executive Directive 1.
“It has been so powerful in its streamlined approval process and its flexibility,” says Rand. “Those two things have been so powerful that they have moved the market. They have moved for-profit developers to providing 100% affordable housing with no public subsidy or investment.”
The affluent coastal city of Malibu, known for celebrity beach homes and a challenging climate for new development, has agreed to get its housing plans in order.
“79 units isn’t going to solve the crisis, but the symbolism is tremendous,” said Dave Rand, a land use attorney at Rand Paster Nelson. “The symbolism is that no jurisdiction, no matter how wealthy, no matter how historically resistant to housing, no jurisdiction is immune from our state housing laws.”
A year-long tug-of-war between California cities and developers over the state’s anarchic “builder’s remedy” law is starting to make its way to the courts as litigants spar over the intricacies of the 34-year-old pro-housing provision.
“Our legal position was substantially strengthened when (the La Cañada Flintridge) decision came down. … It’s an almost identical situation,” Rand said. “I think cities are starting to realize that this is not a fiction, that there’s real teeth to this that’s rooted in law.”
The historic Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City could be demolished to make way for a 520-unit residential complex and mixed-used development if the Los Angeles City Council approves the project Wednesday.
“For years, Ventura Boulevard has been a largely ignored, yet hugely important corridor in the Valley. With this city’s unbelievably ambitious housing goals and obligations, the corner of Coldwater and Ventura Boulevard at this site is the perfect location to bring housing, mixed use and river-appropriate fronted development.”
CalMatters / 2024
For the last two years the “builder’s remedy” has been the unruly teenager of California housing laws.
“Converting the builder’s remedy from a supersized bargaining chip in an open-ended negotiation into a policy that “anyone with a calculator can figure out” would likely encourage more traditional developers to make use of it, said Dave Rand, a land-use attorney who represents many builder’s remedy projects.”
A proposed project that would demolish the iconic Sportsmen’s Lodge hotel in Studio City and replace it with a mixed-use development next to the upscale retail center known as The Shops is one step closer to final approval.
“For years, Ventura Boulevard has been a largely ignored yet hugely important corridor in the Valley,” he said. “With this city’s unbelievably ambitious housing goals and obligations … this site is the perfect location to bring housing, mixed-use and river-appropriate fronted development.”
Bloomberg / 2024
In 2022, LA Mayor Karen Bass directed city agencies to fast-track 100% affordable apartment projects to relieve the city’s housing crunch. Here’s how that push is working
““Those projects ran into a brick wall,” said Dave Rand, a land use attorney with Rand Pastor Nelson. “I told my clients to get ready for a change in ED 1, because you can bet when seven-story, 100% affordable housing projects start being proposed in single-family neighborhoods, there’s going to be a massive backlash. What shocked me was when the city refused to honor what I thought to be very clear state law.””
The Real Deal / 2023
Developers and lawyers assess impact of state involvement in La Cañada Flintridge case
“The declaration shows “it’s a real penalty that cities face if they don’t follow through on their housing commitments,” Rand, a partner at Rand Paster Nelson, told TRD”
Mayor Karen Bass had initially promised to fast-track these projects through Executive Directive One (ED1), but later amended the rules to exclude single-family zones.
“[Developers] were hoping and relying and expecting on the benefit of ED1 — and then the rules changed. The end result will be a lot of lost housing units that could have been built in these areas. Some people may celebrate that and think that's a fantastic thing. I think it's the loss of a good number of much-needed affordable homes.”
Attorney Dave Rand argues that CEQA’s environmental protections have become a tool for delaying housing, while reforms remain limited by costly labor requirements. He advocates exempting urban infill housing from CEQA review to speed construction and improve affordability.
“CEQA is without question the bane of virtually every developer's existence. Now, it originally came into being for very understandable and well-intended purposes: providing disclosure to the public about implications of certain development projects, and setting up a way in which development projects that have negative effects can be addressed and ameliorated for the public's benefit.”
The LA Times / 2023
For nearly a year, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has placed a huge emphasis on the need for low-cost housing, ordering city agencies to tear down bureaucratic hurdles that slow the approval of new, affordably priced apartments.
“For years, it’s been it’s been a significant barrier to housing production,” Rand said. “The mayor is making real moves to do something about it in a way that we have not seen before.”
Beverly Hills is the latest in a string of upscale cities that could soon be forced to permit hundreds of new apartments against its will, thanks to an increasingly popular, once-obscure California law known as the “builder’s remedy.
“They just need to comply with state housing law and plan for the housing that the state requires,” he says. “It’s not complicated.”
NBC Los Angeles / 2023
The Builder’s Remedy is a 1990 law that’s been strengthened in recent years, allowing developers to essentially override local zoning regulations. Proponents say it’s needed to address the housing crisis, but opponents argue it will change cities for the worse.
Politico / 2023
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s threat of prosecuting Gov. Ron DeSantis has thrust an old enmity into new territory.
“The old games of begging municipalities for a project and reducing the density to get there and kissing the ass of every councilmember and planning official and neighbor — that’s the old way of doing things. Our spines are stiffening.”
A new interpretation of an old law gives homebuilders leverage over California cities and their zoning codes. They’re using it to push through thousands of new apartments around the state.
“The builder’s remedy — the loss of zoning control, the ability of a developer to propose anything, Houston-style, whatever they want, no zoning regulations — that gets people’s attention. The builder’s remedy can be a strategic ploy in order to potentially leverage a third way.”
Calling Huntington Beach “Exhibit A in what’s wrong with housing in California,” Gov. Gavin Newsom joined Attorney General Rob Bonta in filing a lawsuit against the oceanside community in Orange County for flouting laws designed to ease the state’s affordability crisis.
““That is not a solution,” Rand said, adding that he thought the city’s legal claim was unwinnable. “They will be forced to submit to the same laws that they’re attempting to fight now, except pay fines and be embarrassed and held out as a pariah when it comes to trying to house people in California.””
Beverly Press / 2023
At the April 3 West Hollywood City Council meeting, an appeal was heard for a planning commission approval of the demolition of a one-story commercial building at 8500 Santa Monica Blvd.
“This is actually exactly what should happen at the appeal process,” Paster said. “Someone should raise a concern, there should be a response to it, and then we should move on with our lives. And that’s what we’ve done here.”
Infill: A YIMBY podcast / 2022
YIMBY Law spoke with Dave Rand, a land use lawyer who is working on several builder’s remedy projects in Southern California, most notably in Santa Monica. Get Dave's insights into how the Builder's Remedy may be a pathway to new, affordable housing units in California, what challenges threaten Builder's Remedy projects, and how we can overcome those challenges.
Oy Vey L.A. Podcast / 2022
Land use attorney Dave Rand joins the Oy Vey L.A. podcast to talk about all things housing and housing law in California, including "the Builder's Remedy". Don't know what that is? Tune in!
If the SF Planning Department’s plan (or Housing Element) doesn’t get Board of Supervisors approval next month or runs afoul of state regulators — a possibility, based on the state’s wholesale rejection of previous efforts — one penalty the state could levy is the so-called Builder’s Remedy.
“A lot of these don’t pencil out anymore,” David Rand, a lawyer representing WSC, tells The Frisc. “The Builder’s Remedy allows us to unlock more density,” which makes projects more economically feasible.”
City inaction towards properly accommodating the development of housing to match the growth of the population in Santa Monica may lead to thousands of new developments in the area.
Earlier this fall, a developer submitted plans for 4,500 apartments in Santa Monica — more new housing than the pricey, beachfront city has built in all of the previous decade.
“I’ve never had so many calls about any single subject in a shorter period of time,” Rand said. “It demonstrates how broken the system is in California, that people are so desperate to find an alternate pathway.”
Global Newswire / 2022
The new firm brings an incredible collective background with decades of combined experience, including ground-breaking land use matters and cutting-edge real estate-related litigation. As land use issues continue to evolve and become more complex, Rand Paster & Nelson attorneys help clients find creative solutions.
Westside Current / 2022
Over 500 people attended the second community Zoom meeting for the proposed 521-unit Lincoln Center Project, which mainly consisted of residents sharing their opposition to the project with the development team.
“The question is, where do you put those units?” said Rand. “Do you put them in the R1 neighborhoods, densify single family stable neighborhoods? Do we put them in R2 or R3 neighborhoods where you would displace existing tenants, many of them rent control tenants? Or do you put them on surface parking lots on the commercial boulevards, proximate to transit and make it bike friendly and pedestrian friendly as is our objective here?”
Law 360 / 2016
A Los Angeles group is attempting to get a measure on November’s ballot that would severely restrict zoning changes in the city, and attorneys say if it passes, the measure would cripple development across L.A. and exacerbate what is already a growing housing crisis. Here, Law360 looks at four ways the measure would affect development in the City of Angels.
