LA’s Karen Bass Directs City to Streamline Housing Projects

Less than a week after Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ invitation-only “fireside chat” with developers at the Urban Land Institute’s conference, she has announced Executive Directive 7, an initiative to slash city hall red tape in developing housing for all income levels.

“We’ve had success expediting affordable projects and we must build on that momentum,” Bass said at a Nov. 8 press conference. “I am taking action to make living in Los Angeles more affordable by signing this executive directive to incentivize more housing to be built for people of all income levels.”

The mayor’s previous executive directives on housing focused on slashing red tape for affordable housing.

Executive Directive 7 demands the mayor’s Office of Business and Economic Development work to streamline the permitting process, along with the mayor’s Office of Housing and Homelessness and eight other city departments, such as th Planning Department, Building and Safety Department and Public Works Department.

Bass instructed the departments to report within 60 days on creating processes to help developers better navigate the city’s permitting process. One target is to reduce timelines for permit services by 25 to 30 percent for qualified mixed-income housing projects.

The mayor’s statement follows an incident involving Deputy Mayor for Housing Jenna Hornstock. She called out the Los Angeles real estate business for throwing a “temper tantrum” after the Measure ULA transfer taxes went into effect earlier this year. At a panel at the recent ULI conference, Hornstock said Los Angeles real estate sprinted to close deals before the transfer tax took effect in April, which caused a “chill” in the market.

Los Angeles developers and agents have long mistrusted the City of Los Angeles’ government and bureaucracy. At TRD’s Los Angeles Forum in September, CBRE President of Advisory Services Lew Horne said ULA has hurt both developers and the city, stating that “ULA now has essentially redlined the city of Los Angeles.”

“It was posed as a mansion tax … the truth is it’s a tax on development, it’s a tax on land, it’s a tax on office, retail and multifamily,” he said.

Bass’ most recent directive was greeted with skepticism from landlord advocate Dan Yukelson, executive director at Apartment Association of Great Los Angeles.

“Unless the city takes a brand-new approach, it will be difficult to find investors to put more money in rental housing,” he said. “If Karen Bass wants to encourage more development, the city needs to take its knee off of the necks of developers and property owners.”

The directive offers a good prognosis for Los Angeles’ development problems, said Anne-Marie Otey, a representative for Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trade Council. “Labor often is looked at as a cause of high prices — it’s usually red tape and delay that drive up costs,” she said.