Construction Loan Interest Reserves Were Sized for Rate Cuts. The Fed Decides Wednesday.
A construction loan interest reserve is sized off an assumed rate. With a September Fed hike now heavily priced, here is where the shortfall lands.
The Brickwork Brief
California housing law, decoded.
Plain-language briefs on the bills, rulings, and code changes that decide what you can build in Los Angeles.
Every brief
SB 1116 Is on the Governor's Desk. What It Changes for Small-Lot Subdivisions in Los Angeles.
SB 1116 rewrites California's starter home subdivision law. Newsom has until September 30, and the new rules hit applications filed after Jan 1, 2027.
AI Plan Review Just Became Mandatory in Honolulu. Seattle Tested the Same Tool and Held Back.
Honolulu requires AI plan review for residential permits starting September 1. Seattle tested the same tool and recommended a narrower rollout.
Measure ULA in 2026: The New $5.4 Million Threshold, and Why One Dollar Can Cost $216,000
Measure ULA's threshold rose to $5.4 million on July 1, 2026. Most coverage still says $5.3M. Here is the current math and what crossing the line costs.
Who Runs LA's Homelessness Funding Now? The LAHSA Ruling, and the Rebid Nobody Noticed
A federal court restored LAHSA's role over $200M in HUD funding in August. Buried in the same order: its four remaining jobs go out to bid for 2027.
Housing Permits Are Rising While Starts Fall. That 279,000-Home Gap Is a Capital Problem.
July 2026 permits rose while housing starts fell 13.5%. The 279,000 homes permitted but not started show the bottleneck is capital, not zoning.
Opportunity Zones 2.0: What Changed in 2026, and California's State-Tax Catch
Opportunity Zones went permanent in 2026 with new rules and a year-end deadline. But California still gives OZ investors no state tax break.
Construction Labor Shortage 2026: What a Shrinking Workforce Does to Your Build Budget
Construction's labor pool is shrinking in 2026, and immigrant-heavy trades most of all. Here's the verified number and what it does to your hard costs.
Is ED-1 Still Available in Los Angeles? No — AHIP Replaced It
ED-1, LA's fast track for 100% affordable housing, is no longer available. It was replaced by CHIP's Affordable Housing Incentive Program (AHIP). Here's what applies in 2026.
The Mansion-Tax Repeal Just Vanished From the November Ballot. What Replaced It Matters More.
The statewide measure that would have gutted LA's mansion tax got pulled in a late-June deal. What quietly took its place doesn't touch ULA — but it raises the bar for every local tax that comes after it.
California Just Sued Five More Cities Over Housing. For a Developer, That List Is a Map.
On July 16 the state hauled five cities into court over their housing plans. That out-of-compliance list doubles as a builder's-remedy map — and it's the shortest it's been in years.
Insurance Used to Be a Closing Detail. In California It's Now a Feasibility Test.
In California the property-insurance quote now decides deals before the pro forma does — here's the new cost stack and what to check before you tie up a site.
The 50%→25% Rule That Just Made 4% Affordable Deals Pencil Again
Buried in the 2025 tax law is a change to one obscure financing test — and it may be the biggest boost to affordable housing supply in a decade. Here's the mechanic, in plain English.
Factory OS Was Supposed to Be the Anti-Katerra. In 2026 It's Laying Off 280 People
Modular housing keeps dying the same death — a thin balance sheet meeting a gap in the pipeline. But the real bottleneck isn't the factory. It's the bank.
Follow the Concrete: $61B Into Data Centers While Office Bleeds
In 2026 the smart money isn't chasing cap rates — it's chasing power and bandwidth. Here's where real estate capital is actually going, and the one contrarian bet hiding in the wreckage.
The $20,000 Tax on Every Affordable Unit You Never See
New Terner Center data puts a hard number on California's impact fees — big enough to kill affordable deals at the margin. Here's the figure, and the 2026 bills trying to trim it.
It Wasn't Overfunding — It Was Over-Leasing
The word going around is that LA "overfunded" Section 8. The truth is the opposite: HACLA wrote more vouchers than Washington would pay for, and everyone from landlords to tenants is now living inside the gap.
Congress Passed the First Big Housing Bill in a Decade. The President Called It a "Big Yawn"
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act becomes law this week — without a signature. No new money, but a pile of rule changes an LA infill developer should actually read.
The 13-Year Streak Just Snapped
In 2025, big institutions cut their target allocation to real estate for the first time since 2012. The money didn't leave the building — it walked next door.
The Robots Showed Up on the Jobsite. They're Boring — That's Why They Work
Forget the humanoid press releases. The construction robots actually earning their keep do one dull thing extremely well — and cut labor on that scope by 30–50%.
Pilot Purgatory: Everyone's Testing AI, Almost Nobody's Finishing
90% of real estate firms are piloting AI. 5% have actually hit their goals. The gap between the demo and the deployment is where the money goes to die.
LA Just Hit Every Pause Button on Its Biggest Housing Law
SB 79 was supposed to legalize apartments near transit statewide on July 1. LA found a side door — and walked through it one day early.
Navigating the Hidden Layers of Los Angeles Zoning: Why the Planning Department Can't Tell You Everything
Los Angeles zoning isn't just about R1 or C2 designations. Discover the complex web of ordinances, Q conditions, D limitations, and specific plans that actually determine what you can build—and why a trip to the planning department won't uncover these critical details.
The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Real Estate Development Pro Forma
Master your next project's financial feasibility with our step-by-step guide to building a comprehensive real estate development pro forma. We also offer consulting services to help build a pro forma.
Introducing Irvine & Associates
At Irvine & Associates, we specialize in guiding property owners and developers through California's complex land use landscape, providing expert consulting and project management services to streamline entitlements, zoning approvals, and regulatory processes throughout Los Angeles and beyond.
Unlock Your Property's Potential: Navigating California's SB 684 and SB 1123 for Streamlined Housing Development
California's SB 684 and SB 1123 offer property owners new pathways to streamline housing development by reducing regulatory barriers and expediting approval processes for qualifying residential projects.
California Zoning Reports: Los Angeles County & Beyond | Brick Work
Brick Work provides expert feasibility reports for any California property, with our deepest expertise in Los Angeles County. We analyze local ordinances in Pasadena, Santa Monica, & Long Beach, with reports starting at $250.
LA Zoning Reports: A 2025 Competitor Price & Feature Comparison
Comparing Brick Work vs Gridics & Deep Blocks. See why our $250 Los Angeles zoning reports offer more detail on DTLA 2040, SB 9, and local ordinances.
Brick Work Q & A
This Q&A series provides direct answers to the most pressing development challenges in Los Angeles, showing how developers, architects, investors, and property owners use Brickwork's detailed analysis to solve complex zoning issues and unlock true property potential.
Top Reasons to Choose Brick Work for Los Angeles Real Estate Insights
Arm your investment memoranda and investor presentations with objective, third-party data that validates your thesis and builds crucial investor confidence.
Think One ADU Was Good? California's SB 1211 Says Try Eight (!!) - Here's What You Need to Know
Build up to 8 detached ADUs but must match number of existing units
LA CHIP Ordinance (What's New For 2025)
Los Angeles just rolled out a program that might transform how we think about housing development.
California's Housing Solution: SB 684 & SB 1123
Projects of 10 or fewer units on lots under 5 acres can bypass discretionary reviews.