Ben Christopher

Construction workers building an apartment complex site for an affordable housing project in Bakersfield on May 29, 2024. (Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters)

Newsom, Legislature tangle with construction unions over minimum wage

June 26, 2025 at 3:01 p.m.

Lawmakers are weighing a provision that would allow developers to pay a lower wage for some construction projects, theoretically stimulating housing production in California. Unions and environmental groups are opposed.

Construction on Casa Sueños, an affordable housing complex at 3500 E. 12th St. in Oakland, on Aug 7, 2023. (Photo by Semantha Norris, CalMatters)

Newsom picks housing over CEQA in 2 bills aimed at speeding construction

May 15, 2025 at 3:19 p.m.

One bill would exempt most “infill” housing developments from review under the California Environmental Quality Act.

New homes under construction in Pleasanton on June 16, 2024. The city of Pleasanton has voted to explore the possibility of becoming a charter city. (Loren Elliott for CalMatters)

Is secret to California’s housing affordability buried in its building code?

May 15, 2025 at 12:52 p.m.

California lawmakers are considering a bill authored by a Burbank assemblymember that would pause updates to state housing standards.

A model home in the Dixon Trail neighborhood of Escondido on April 24, 2025. Developer KB Home is marketing Dixon Trail as the first “wildfire resilient neighborhood” in the U.S., constructed using fire-resistant materials and methods. (Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters)

New California neighborhood billed as first fire-resistant community in U.S.

April 30, 2025 at 1:22 p.m.

Dixon Trail in Escondido has half of the its 64 homes constructed.

Construction in Santa Clarita, CA, on Friday, March 21, 2025.
(Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Will new bill bring end to California’s housing vs environment wars?

March 27, 2025 at 12:11 p.m.

In the recurring legislative fight between YIMBY legislators and defenders of California’s signature environmental law, one bill could be a final legislative showdown.

In an aerial view, an emergency vehicle (C) drives past destroyed homes as the Palisades Fire continues to burn on Jan. 09, 2025 in Pacific Palisades, California. Multiple wildfires fueled by intense Santa Ana Winds are burning across Los Angeles County. At least five people have been killed, and over 25,000 acres have burned. Over 2,000 structures have also burned and almost 180,000 people are under orders to evacuate. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

New fire maps put nearly 4 million Californians in hazardous zones

March 26, 2025 at 4:58 p.m.

All told, the size of orange and red patches on the new maps is 3,626 square miles — an area nearly twice the size of Delaware.

Framers work to build the Ruby Street apartments in Castro Valley on Feb. 6, 2024. The construction project is funded by the No Place Like Home bond, which passed in 2018 to create affordable housing for homeless residents experiencing mental health issues. (Photo by Camille Cohen for CalMatters)

‘Too damn hard to build’: California Democrat pushes for speedier construction

March 6, 2025 at 12:15 p.m.

Buffy Wicks said lawmakers will soon see 20 bills to speed up housing construction, along with more on energy, water and transit.

People walk along the bluffs in Del Mar on July 25, 2023. (Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters)

Push to build more homes on California coast stifled after lawmakers derail housing bills

August 20, 2024 at 10:51 a.m.

Several efforts to minimize the power and influence of the California Coastal Commission have stalled.

A legislative effort in California to force LLCs and corporations to publicly disclose their owners is facing a surprising obstacle: A massive cost estimate from the Secretary of State. (File photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Who owns that apartment? California agency says it will take millions to find out

May 8, 2024 at 11:20 a.m.

A legislative effort to force LLCs and corporations to publicly disclose their owners is facing a surprising obstacle: A massive cost estimate from the Secretary of State.

The proposed Ten21 mixed-use development in Redondo Beach, which is being applied for as a “builder’s remedy” development. City leaders say it can only be considered once the applicant applies for amendments to the city’s zoning laws, general plan and local coastal program. The developer disputes that, saying his application was made before Redondo Beach had an approved housing plan. (Rendering from preliminary permit application)

California’s most controversial housing law, the ‘builders remedy,’ could get a makeover

April 2, 2024 at 3:58 p.m.

Some of California’s top lawmakers want to clear up, but also rein in, the state’s most controversial housing statute

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