San Diego beating L.A. on housing, Big donation for Tar Pits overhaul, and more

With a Howard Jarvis-based ballot measure on the horizon that could threaten tax initiatives statewide, the Los Angeles City Council is moving to amend the controversial Measure ULA transfer tax.

In a motion set to be heard next week at City Council, Councilmember Nithya Raman has proposed a measure for placement on the June 2026 ballot which would exempt multifamily (4 units or more), commercial, and mixed-use buildings be exempt from the ULA tax for a period of 15 years after completion. Likewise, Raman's motion proposes an exemption for properties impacted by natural disasters, such as the January 2025 wildfires.

Measure ULA, which passed in 2022, imposes a heavier transfer tax on high-value real estate transactions. Though billed as "Mansion Tax," the tax in fact applies to all transactions above $5.3 million. Specifically, a 4% tax is applied to sales of $5.3 million or more, and a 5.5% tax is applied to those of $10.6 million or more. 

While ULA has raised more than $1 billion since its adoption, it has also been credited with leading to a precipitous decline in housing construction in the City of Los Angeles, with many developers opting to take their money elsewhere rather than pay the tax.

“If Measure ULA is going to remain a durable source of funding for affordable housing and homelessness prevention, we need housing projects that actually get built and house families,” said Raman in a news release.  “A policy that unintentionally stalls housing production ultimately undermines the very goals voters asked us to achieve. This motion keeps Measure ULA true to its original intent while making targeted, responsible adjustments so it can continue to protect tenants, support wildfire recovery, spur housing production, and safeguard a critical funding source for the future.”

The proposed ballot measure would also make technical changes to ULA, including a provision that would allow the Housing Department to permit rents of up to 80 percent of the area median income level to prevent a project from falling into financial distress.

Here's what we're reading this week:

Iconic office property sells in latest reset sign for downtown Los Angeles "The downtown building is almost fully leased to Wells Fargo, development firm Related California and architecture firm Skidmore Owings & Merrill. But one of the building's top tenants, Oaktree Capital Management, announced plans this summer to vacate its 214,600-square-foot space in the building for another downtown office tower." (CoStar)

A walk through promising, problem-plagued MacArthur Park with its council member "...MacArthur Park is the backyard for one of the densest neighborhoods in the United States, a modern-day Lower East Side of immigrants and their children. A succession of council members have worked for generations to keep these 35 acres free from troubles only to see it crash down on their political reputation." (LA Times)

Speedo moves U.S. headquarters to Long Beach ahead of Olympics "The privately held, U.K.-based company that manages a portfolio of fashion and sportswear brands — including outdoor gear brand Berghaus and cycling apparel brand Endura — plans to move to a 25,000-square-foot facility at Aero Long Beach this summer." (LA Times)

He grew up in Ramona Gardens. Now he’s helping bring green space back "A fourth-generation Ramona Gardens native helps lead a community-driven effort to transform a once-neglected park." (Boyle Heights Beat)

Extending the Foothill A Line Hasn’t Been Forgotten "Plans are underway to get the track built to Claremont, and stakeholders remain hopeful that Montclair can make a comeback." (Streetsblog LA)

Luzzatto Buys Gehry-Designed Binoculars Building in L.A. "Seller Net Lease Office Properties listed the Google-leased property for sale last March" (Commercial Observer)

La Brea Tar Pits receives largest-ever donation toward new Ice Age research center as part of campus makeover "The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County on Thursday announced its largest-ever donation — a gift from the Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Oschin Family Foundation, which will be used to establish the Samuel Oschin Global Center for Ice Age Research. The center will serve as the “intellectual backbone” of the La Brea Tar Pits’ long-planned makeover, said NHM President and Director Lori Bettison-Varga." (LA Times)

San Diego shows what happens when a city actually lets builders build "San Diego is building apartments at nearly twice the rate of Los Angeles, with new construction up 10%, while L.A.’s has plummeted 33% over three years." (LA Times)

LA County launches new homelessness department: ‘The buck is going to stop with us’ "County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said transferring responsibilities from LAHSA — a joint powers authority created in 1993 by the city and county of L.A. — to one centralized agency will reduce finger-pointing." (LAist)

Industrious Expands Again in SoCal With 18K-SF Burbank Location "The coworking space provider inked a 16K-SF deal with Douglas Emmett in Beverly Hills last April" (Commercial Observer)

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