Mayor Zohran Mamdani's legal administration is taking the reins with an ambitious plan to expand the city Law Department by at least 200 lawyers. But who are his top lawyers and how will their different roles intersect with his agenda? Just before his inauguration, Mamdani named longtime public interest attorney Steven Banks as his pick for the city's next corporation counsel, the head of the massive agency that manages the city's litigation, and named Ramzi Kassem as chief counsel, the mayor's personal lawyer.
Santa Clara wrapped up 2025 with an impressive 2,768 new residential units, far surpassing the 155 completions from 2024 and earlier years. Most of these additions came as apartments and condominiums, with a small portion from accessory dwelling units and single-family homes. This wave of development marks a high point for the city, reflecting years of preparation that now deliver much-needed options amid the Bay Area's tight inventory.
An affordable housing nonprofit has put the kibosh on selling some Santa Monica buildings to developer Leo Pustilnikov. At a Santa Monica City Council meeting last week, officials disclosed that they had privately discussed a potential sale of 419 and 1616 Ocean Avenue, properties controlled by Community Corporation of Santa Monica, the Santa Monica Daily Press reported. Any transaction would require city approval because Santa Monica deeded 419 and 1616 Ocean to the nonprofit in 2016 and retained reacquisition rights.
An effort to develop housing at public transit stations in Santa Clara County has awakened after being dormant for decades - and is expected to rake in lease profits and fuel train ridership. VTA leaders next week will open the doors to their first new public transit-oriented apartment complex in 20 years, between the Willow Glen and Alma neighborhoods next to the Tamien light rail station. Complete with a child care center and improved transit plaza, the complex will offer 135 affordable apartments.
London has rapidly emerged as Europe's data centre capital, much to the Government's delight, but locations close to the City, where some of the UK's biggest data users are based, are rare and much prized. That is because, when it comes to financial trading in the 21st century, milliseconds matter. The shorter the physical distance between trader and data centre, the faster instructions can be processed, creating a minute but crucial competitive advantage.
Palo Alto's Architectural Review Board has given a thumbs up to plans for a seven-story housing development at El Camino Real and Curtner Avenue, so long as developers make improvements such as adding off-street parking locations and more elevators. Sares Regis Group is responsible for the application on behalf of Palo Alto developer Vittoria Management. The application calls for demolishing existing buildings along 3727-3737 and 3773-3783 El Camino Real, 378-400 Madeline Court and 388 Curtner Ave. to make room for a 183-unit, 190,132-square-foot development.
When families seek out apartments, they are searching for more than a place to lay their heads. They are searching for safety and community in neighborhoods with decent schools. When we fail to deliver affordable options that meet these needs, parents are forced to raise their children in overcrowded apartments, to shuttle between unstable living arrangements, or even to turn to temporary shelters.
An east London authority is set to spend almost 6m fixing fire safety faults at two recently completed council-backed housing and commercial developments. The issues include missing back-up power supplies at a block of 156 affordable homes, and sprinkler system problems at an industrial scheme that have left many business units unlettable. London Borough of Barking and Dagenham documents show the problems have delayed occupation, limited rental income and forced costly retrofits funded by taxpayers.
Another affordable housing lottery has launched at Williamsburg Wharf, a large luxury development along the East River just south of the Williamsburg Bridge. The lottery applies to one of the project's five 22-story buildings. The lottery is for Williamsburg Wharf A3, aka 470 Kent Avenue, and includes 55 studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments. All of the units are rent stabilized and income restricted, reserved for households earning 80 percent of the Area Median Income or $75,532 to $140,000 annually for households of one to five people, according to the listing.
Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 9:30 a.m.: The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission will meet. . Tuesday, Jan. 13-Friday, Jan. 16: NYCHA's Digital Vans, which provide internet access and training for residents, will be at the following developments this week: Riis, Red Hook West, Wagner, Hughes, Chelsea, Pink, Breukelen, Jefferson, Sumner, and Van Dyke I. Find the exact schedule here. Thursday, Jan. 15 at 6 p.m.: Brooklyn Public Library's Macon branch (361 Lewis Ave.) presentshousing activist and author Patrick Markee, who will discuss his book "Placeless: Homelessness in the New Gilded Age"with New York Times investigative reporter Andrea Elliott. .
This tiny home doesn't cut corners when it comes to providing you with all the essentials for easy day-to-day living. Featuring everything you expect from a traditional home, this modern tiny house includes a fully functional kitchen and a bathroom with modern fixtures. Unlike other pre-built homes, you can design the layout to your specific needs before you even move in.
When pundits discuss new Mayor Zohran Mamdani's affordability policies, they talk about the benefits to his base of young supporters. They imagine how the call for cheaper groceries and rent freezes will help 20- and 30-somethings navigating early adulthood and parenthood. But Mamdani's core message on housing and food prices applies just as much to older New Yorkers, and his affordability agenda can deliver for them, too. They cared for us, now it's our turn to care for them.
To address the housing shortage, the city should make it cheaper for landlords to build new units. A public-private partnership where the city builds the shells of new apartment buildings and leases the interiors to landlords, who in turn develop and rent them to tenants, can increase supply and lower rents. Some estimate that the city needs 500,000 more housing units by 2032 to keep up with demand. Rental prices are skyrocketing because of this high demand and limited supply.
Architecture studio Beyer Blinder Belle has completed The Brook in Downtown Brooklyn, a 52-storey mixed-use skyscraper that was informed by historic Brooklyn architecture. The Brook sits in a triangular site next to the Brooklyn Tower at the confluence of DeKalb Avenue, Flatbush Avenue and Fulton Street, in one of "the most prominent and complex intersections in the entire borough", according to international American studio Beyer Blinder Belle (BBB).
In September Hackney Council gave the green light to the final phases of the Woodberry Down regeneration masterplan. This has been a long time in the making, as the Woodberry Down regeneration officially began 20 years ago. Developers Berkeley Homes have now been given the go-ahead to complete the final stages, officially known as phases 5-8. Berkeley sought permission to build up to a 3,083 new homes in the area across the four phases, of which the developer said 43 percent would be affordable.
A developer has lodged an appeal against a council's refusal of its plans to build a 29-storey tower next to Battersea Bridge. The developer has now appealed to the Planning Inspectorate to overturn the council's decision and approve the controversial scheme to replace the six-storey Glassmill office building, on Battersea Bridge Road, with the tower. Inspector Joanna Gilbert will make a decision on the appeal in due course.
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Mercato Metropolitano, which has operated from a former paper-making factory in Elephant & Castle for nine years, is to be demolished after plans for the Borough Triangle development were approved by Southwark councillors in March. The housing scheme will see almost 900 homes built in tower blocks up to 44 storeys high. A spokesperson for the market, which has 40 independent traders, said "despite recent incorrect speculation" the market remained open, adding that it had "lots more exciting things to look forward to" next year.
The plan to build more than 700 apartments above the North Berkeley BART station took a couple of steps forward this month, as two nonprofits applied for building permits from the city to construct affordable housing developments at the site. But the timeline for construction of one of Berkeley's most closely watched housing projects has slipped by another year, according to a BART spokesperson.
The project would include 1,500 new apartments with 305 affordable units, 95 of which would be set aside for seniors. There would also be a new 27,000-square-foot community center, a 15,000-square-foot cultural center, and a new school to replace P.S. 287. Renderings show one high-rise building in place of the current Boys & Girls Club at 240 Nassau Street with the community and cultural centers on the ground floor and apartments above.
The redevelopment of the site aims to integrate a mix of affordable housing for New Yorkers, new retail space for residents and visitors, and opportunities to expand the Whitney Museum of American Art and the High Line. The Request for Proposals outlined a vision for up to 600 units of mixed-income housing, with a goal of 50 percent of the total units being permanently affordable, along with ground-floor commercial space.
At 80 percent of the area median income (AMI), the lottery offers seven studios with rents of $1,927 per month for households earning $73,166 to $103,680; eight one-bedroom units at $2,030 per month for incomes of $78,995 to $116,640; and 11 two-bedroom units at $2,363 per month for incomes of $95,520 to $140,000. At 130 percent of AMI, five two-bedroom units are available at $2,750 per month for households earning $108,789 to $227,500.