SRO Housing Corp. in danger, Metro's Olympic bus plan in doubt, and more

Despite securing support in both chambers, a bill intended to kickstart California's sluggish market for condo construction died in the state legislature earlier this month as the clock ran out on the legislative session. While fixing the construction defect process requires action by state lawmakers, one member of the L.A. City Council is looking to peel back barriers at the local level.

This week, 5th District Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky introduced motions which, if translated into law, could make streamline the approval process for condominiums, townhomes and other smaller for-sale homes. The first motion instructs the Planning Department to create a streamlined approval process for new condominium projects, while a second motion calls for reviewing City fees imposed on small-scale ownership housing that discourage construction (including park fees, linkage fees, subdivision and mapping fees, and other various charges) and identify ways to provide relief through fee reductions, credits, deferrals and more proportional fee structures.

“For too many Angelenos, the first rung of homeownership has disappeared,” said Yaroslavsky in a news release. “We are living in an economy where people who already own assets keep building wealth while working and middle-class families fall further behind. If the path to homeownership starts with a $1.5 million single-family home, we are shutting too many Angelenos out. Condos, townhomes and other starter homes should give first-time buyers a real opportunity to own a piece of Los Angeles and build wealth over time.”

Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation has announced announced new leases and renewals at the Pacific Design Center's Red Building in West Hollywood. The tenants - which include SuperOrdinary, LILY et Cie, Hourglass Cosmetics, PATTERN BY TRACEE ELLIS ROSS, Princess Polly, AllSaints, Hourglass Cosmetics, and Grindr - took a combined 95,820 square feet of space, accounting for nearly one quarter of the floor area within the building.

Here's what we're reading this week:

Major housing nonprofit in Los Angeles’ Skid Row facing financial collapse "The prospect of SRO Housing Corp., which operates 2,500 units of affordable housing, going under creates a significant new problem for Mayor Karen Bass and other local political leaders." (Politico)

Long Beach Lost: Furusato, the Japanese fishing village erased from Terminal Island "Before Terminal Island became a landscape of cranes, containers and guarded industrial space, thousands of Japanese and Japanese American residents built a home beside Fish Harbor. Then the United States government gave them 48 hours to leave—and ensured there would be no village to return to." (Longbeachize)

Can Long Beach turn itself into a bike utopia? Reshaping 5 miles of Studebaker is its biggest test yet "Imagine a sprawling network of roomy bike lanes, generously landscaped to calm relentless traffic. Think Amsterdam with newer buildings and fewer waterways. That’s been Long Beach’s goal anyway." (Long Beach Post)

Metro says it can't deploy LA Olympic buses without federal funding guarantee by year's end "For years, California lawmakers and transit leaders have requested billions of dollars from the federal government to temporarily double L.A.’s bus fleet and support public transportation for the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics." (LAist)

Culver City Weighs Citywide Parking Caps for New Projects "One scenario would have allowed projects with a baseline of up to 100 spaces to exceed that figure by 15%, while projects above 100 spaces would have been limited to a 10% surplus. Additional spaces could have been subject to a mobility fee." (Westside Current)

Metro North Hollywood to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit Update: Construction, Lawsuit, and More "BRT construction is underway in downtown Pasadena. Metro and Burbank remain in court, but have reached an interim agreement for some project construction to proceed. The same critics are still criticizing the project." (Streetsblog LA)

Taco Bell will move to larger Irvine headquarters "It will move into a 251,000-square-foot campus at Alton HQ along with its sister company Habit Burger & Grill." (LA Times)

Pressure-Testing Paramount’s Relocation Threat "The ticking-fee window is looming, and calculated leaks are raising the temperature around David Ellison’s promise to pick up his studio and leave L.A. But how realistic is a full stakes-up transfer to Nashville—or parts unknown? And can he actually risk it?" (Puck)

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