Meet the Builder's Remedy' Baron of California, Who's Influenced Housing Battles Statewide

"One developer in Beverly Hills has become the poster child for the builder's remedy free-for-all in the current housing wars, but surprise surprise, he does not even intend to build the projects that he's suing cities to get approved. When the City of San Francisco, and cities all across California, were trying to get their state-mandated housing elements approved in late 2022/early 2023 to meet ambitious new goals for housing production, the fashionable term among the YIMBY set became "builder's remedy."

"That referred to a possible free-for-all where developers could just build anything, and municipalities would not be able to stop them unless their housing elements were compliant with the state. San Francisco passed a compliant housing element to preserve local controls (though that situation may not last) while many cities statewide failed to do so. And there has been a smattering of builder's remedy projects in the Bay Area, but not the onslaught of which YIMBYs had dreamed."

"Though looking south, the builder's remedy sure has remade the housing landscape in Beverly Hills. The law is called the builder's remedy,' and it was designed to break the political logjams that have made California one of the most difficult places in the country to build. The law works by nullifying local zoning rules when cities fail to plan.https://t.co/1D7nrrnQpD Michael Seward (@MSewardREALTOR) November 21, 2025"

A Beverly Hills developer has used the builder's remedy to obtain approvals for projects he does not plan to build. California cities were required to adopt state-mandated housing elements in late 2022 and early 2023 to meet new housing-production goals. The builder's remedy allows developers to override local zoning when municipalities fail to adopt compliant plans. San Francisco adopted a compliant housing element to preserve local control while many other cities did not. The policy has produced some projects in the Bay Area and has prompted some cities to approve projects they otherwise might not have.

Read at sfist.com