In a world of single-family zoning, we we’re pleasantly surprised to stumble across this recent article in the New York Times highlighting the history of a small New Jersey town and its success with “light-touch density” (LTD): small lot single-family homes, townhouses, triplexes, and fourplexes permitted on land zoned for single-family development. California has taken...Read More

Apartments, ADUs and Small Lots—oh my! As a response to the state’s push to meet current housing needs, new developments are popping up across Los Angeles at an increasing rate (Reminder: Los Angeles is currently short 456,643 housing units). Many residents would like to prevent new housing developments for a few fear-based reasons—loss of neighborhood...Read More

Have you heard? Los Angeles has a housing problem! We’re over 450,000 housing units short based on the latest RHNA (Regional Housing Needs Allocation) assessment. Need a recap on why? Check out our short history lesson on housing and how we got here: Part 1 and Part 2, and then read up on the latest...Read More

Our previous blogs in this Affordable Housing series took a peek at the history of how we got to the current housing shortage, and then highlighted a few of the big “Streamlining” bills. If you haven’t already, check out our recent articles: Why is Housing in Los Angeles So Expensive? (Part 1) Why is Housing...Read More

I don’t know about you, but every time I read a sentence containing the abbreviations “SB” or “AB” my brain immediately hurts trying to figure out which state senate or assembly bill is being referenced. The research for this blog found me in an avalanche of state bills that all started to intertwine. How is...Read More

Welcome back to our informal discussion about rising housing costs in Los Angeles. If you missed it, make sure you check out Part 1. If you’re back for Part 2, thank you for being here! I promise this one is shorter than the last. If you remember, we’ve been looking in depth at two critical...Read More

It’s a common question: Why is housing in Los Angeles so expensive? We are constantly asked this question by clients and decided to dig deep to see what drives the high housing costs across the city. The answer is complex, and sometimes polarizing, because there are multiple underlying factors. The goal of this article is...Read More

Our previous blog, The Great LA Delay: Why Residential Development is Taking Soooo Long, detailed how the convoluted permitting process is wreaking havoc with design and development in Los Angeles. In Part 2, we tell you about a possible “Secret Weapon” that could help smooth the permitting process, we’ve got some news on how this...Read More

You know it’s bad when we get an email from a fellow architect, developer or client with the subject line “Please help!” and find they are attempting to navigate the convoluted City of Los Angeles’ permitting process. While COVID has rendered many business processes more difficult or even obsolete, residents are questioning how to get...Read More

UPDATE: Since writing and posting this blog back in January 2022, Los Angeles City Planning has created an info page and implementation memo. Check it out! —– There’s been a lot of buzz surrounding the recent Senate Bill 9 (SB9) that just went into effect earlier this month. It is California’s most recent attempt to...Read More

The building sector is a major polluter. In fact, in 2018, if we include energy consumption and emissions from the manufacture of building construction materials, our industry accounted for the largest share of energy use and emissions, globally. Following on the heels of the American Institute of Architects’ recent symposium on climate change, Tracy A....Read More

About three years ago, our team started looking for properties to develop in-house. If you haven’t noticed, there isn’t a ton of vacant land in Los Angeles. Finding something affordable with decent building opportunities is even harder. To evaluate each lot that came up in our land search, we had a mental checklist to see...Read More

In our endeavor to be lifelong learners, we’ve started a new tradition at Tracy A. Stone Architect called… wait for it… “read the magazines that get mailed to the office.” Originally, we had decided to purge all the unwanted subscriptions (and if you know the design and construction industry, there are TONS that mysteriously show...Read More

In our previous blog, we commented on the need for smart growth and development. How does that work? Good question. In looking for answers, we decided it was necessary to review other major metro area strategies. We’ve picked a few that were particularly interesting, or those that had good potential for implementation in Southern California....Read More

  In our travels around Los Angeles presenting projects to various community groups, we face a lot of fearful residents concerned about increased density in the city. Everyone wants more affordable housing, but no one seems to want more housing. And as long as people keep moving to Los Angeles, we need more housing. After...Read More

  Top 5 Questions When Purchasing a Lot in LA The fact that development in Los Angeles is at a recent high gives rise to many questions relevant to the construction location. From structure type to zoning to whether you’re contemplating building a new house, a small residential addition or a brand new commercial structure,...Read More

We recently presented our project at a Design Review Board and got stuck between requirements of a Specific Plan and concerns of an abutting neighbor… let’s call him Bob. Bob’s concern, which he voiced at the meeting, “This project is contributing to the butterfly shortage.” As it turns out, Bob is the neighbor to the...Read More