Newsletters

12.17.15

Supreme Court Reaffirms Scope of CEQA Analysis

This morning, a unanimous California Supreme Court reaffirmed that environmental analysis under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) should be concerned with a project's impact on the environment, not the environment's impact on a project.


12.10.15

Not Your First Rodeo—CEQA Exemption for Rodeo Event Upheld

The Third District Court of Appeal upheld the use of a categorical exemption for a rodeo event held on fairgrounds owned by the 14th District Agricultural Association (Association).


12.04.15

The Home-Sharing Economy

Long before Airbnb, short-term home rental platforms, such as VRBO and Vacation Home Rentals, connected individuals looking for hotel alternatives.


12.01.15

Newhall Ranch Project Dealt Supreme Court Setback

The California Supreme Court released its long-awaited opinion in Center for Biological Diversity v. California Department of Fish and Wildlife on Monday, November 30.


11.18.15

How to Get in on the Offshore Fund Flow to the U.S.

A recent report estimates that foreign investors are expected to spend more than $70 billion on U.S. commercial real estate in 2015.


11.05.15

CEQA Baseline Can Consider Historic Levels of Use

This case addresses an important issue under CEQA relating to the development of the existing conditions baseline against which project impacts are measured.


10.21.15

Restrictions on Condominium Conversions

Now that the recession is beginning to become a memory of the past, the demand for housing is on the rise, and with it is the explosive interest in the multifamily market.


10.01.15

Use It or Lose It: San Clemente Required to Refund $10 Million in Unused Impact Fees

In a strict reading of a local agency’s responsibilities under the Mitigation Fee Act (Gov’t Code §§ 66000 et seq.), the Court of Appeal held that San Clemente’s failure to make the proper findings under the Act to retain almost $10 million in mitigation fees collected ...


09.15.15

Can You Keep a Secret?

Most real estate deals begin with a letter of intent defining the principal terms of the deal, the only enforceable paragraph of which is an agreement to keep the transaction strictly confidential.


09.02.15

Substance Over Form—A Refreshing Application of CEQA Analysis

The Court of Appeal in City of Irvine v. County of Orange elaborated upon the rules dictating when a supplemental EIR, as opposed to a subsequent EIR, analysis is appropriate, concluding that substance controls over title when deciding if the correct level of analysis was utilized.