Demolition/conversion of rental housing

Jon

Tenants and their supporters rallied in front of 1049 Market Street on November 12, demanding that landlord John Gall withdraw eviction notices for the building. Gall wants to convert residentially occupied units at 1049 Market to offices, a move that would displace tenants and reverse progress toward revitalizing Mid-Market. It’s the residents who keep the street alive after office workers leave, which is why the city is trying to increase housing in the area.

Activists Say Airbnb Makes New Orleans Housing Shortage Worse

Airbnb and other platforms for short-term rental listings are exacerbating the housing crisis in New Orleans, says a new report from the Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative (JPNSI). The analysis in the report falls in line with similar findings in other cities — a substantial chunk of short-term rentals are controlled by operators with multiple properties, suggesting that landlords are choosing to put units on Airbnb and other sites, eschewing long-term tenants.

California Has a Controversial Plan to Solve Its Housing Crisis. Drivers Aren't Going to Like It.

The San Francisco Bay Area did a remarkable job of rebounding from the 2008 recession: The region has since added 640,000 new jobs, and its unemployment rate hovers around 3 percent. But as you’ve probably heard, the area’s housing supply hasn’t kept up with its population growth, and neither has its public transportation. A 2017 report found that 75 percent of Bay Area commuters drive to work, and only 28 percent of new office developments are accessible by regional transit.

Building Owner Sued Over 'Illegal Hotel' Didn't Break City Law, Judge Rules

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge sided Friday with a man who was accused of running an illegal hotel in Venice Beach, concluding that renting out apartment units in his building for short stays was not banned under city codes.

Carl Lambert was one of several people targeted by the city attorney two years ago and accused of operating apartment buildings as illegal hotels.

Plan To Dramatically Increase Development Would Transform Some L.A. Neighborhoods

For decades, the question of where Los Angeles should build housing has been a local matter.

Real estate developers have mostly relied on an elaborate web of city zoning rules to figure out how tall a new residential building can be, how many parking spaces it must have, and how many homes can be built on a particular piece of property.

Seniors, Refugees Protest Closure of Westminster Mobile Home Park

Residents of the Green Lantern Village in Westminster are fighting back against plans by the property owner to close the 130-space mobile home park, which they say would displace more than one hundred families in a county where affordable housing is increasingly scarce.

Park residents—most of whom are seniors and low-income—have been up in arms since Walsh Properties LLC, owner of Green Lantern Village, requested a land use permit from the city last year to convert the property from a mobile home park to other types of housing.

Airbnb Loses Thousands of Hosts in S.F. as Registration Rules Kick In

Thousands of San Francisco hosts on Airbnb and rival home-stay sites have stopped renting their homes and rooms to tourists. Many others are scrambling to register their vacation rentals with the city as a Tuesday deadline looms for Airbnb and HomeAway to kick off unregistered hosts.

“If you look at the sites, you’ll notice a substantial reduction in the number of listings,” said Kevin Guy, director of the San Francisco Office of Short-Term Rental Administration and Enforcement.

Housing Activists Raise Alarm About Turning Over Apartments for Short Stays

Flanked by cameras, the activists marched into the glossy lobby of the downtown building and demanded to speak to the general manager.

The Olive Street building, they argued, had been approved by the city as condominiums and then turned into an “illegal hotel.” The website for Level Furnished Living advertises luxury suites that rent for hundreds of dollars a night. After a string of people recounted their housing woes, they handed over a letter for company executives.

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