We know increasing supply is key to lowering the cost of housing. SB-1123 can help. Here’s the process for 1123 feasibility that I’ve been running with developers all over California🧵⬇️ Hope it helps! Pictured below: AI Render of SB-1123 test fit for 6 units on an R-1 Lot in Los Angeles

Check out this interactive map that shows how SB-79 will (may?) play out across the state. Link below.

“The economic conditions kind of override everything” Even less would be built if it weren’t for new state laws. California is consistently outpaced by other states and the country as a whole. Affordability continues to suffer. The shortage is deepening and prices are set to skyrocket.

If you believe I belong to one “side” or the other: You may be suffering from a cognitive distortion called dichotomous thinking. It leads people to see life as a battle between pure good and pure evil, victims and oppressors, safe and unsafe.

This CA SB-684 project was approved for West Oakland last week. This one has been through a lot. Multiple owners, multiple entitlements, multiple permits. Really hoping it sticks this time because there aren’t many people building in Oakland, and that’s going to have an impact down the road.

You get what you pay for… Quality matters, but not everything calls for the highest quality. Matching quality to context is essential. In a development deal, if you over-build you’ll never recapture the expense. If you under-build you leave money on the table. Finding a balance is key.

Neighbors often tell you that if you had just notified them, they would have been nicer. In my experience that’s not the case. They’re almost always angry about change. (Photo of our Chapman project in Jingletown. Ask me about the neighbors!)

Yesterday I asked Ai for Berkeley code that allows for averaging of front setbacks in an R-2 zone. It sent me the Missing Middle Ordinance. I said that’s not adopted yet. It said ok here’s code section 23.304.030. I said that’s for MULI zones. Then it just went into a loop. Section 3.33333…

Last week I walked this 100k prefab SFD / ADU in North Hollywood. The guy who makes them placed 4 on his property as part of an SB-9 deal. He estimates install cost for all 4 units was another 100k. All in 500k. For 4 units.

The Baran Studio Density Guide provides a framework for unlocking housing capacity through replicable, policy-aligned design strategies. We break down key mechanisms like ministerial approvals, subdivision reforms, and ADU policy shifts into deployable tactics across diverse site types. Link👇🏼

This level of stupid is difficult to comprehend.

"In 2020, [Portland, OR] approved building [middle housing] on lots zoned for single family homes... A new report from the City says, it's working. 1,400 new units built in just a few years and each one is $300,000 less expensive than a typical single family home." @nbcnews.com

Great time at UC Berkeley MREDD final reviews yesterday. One of the most interesting presentations showed how housing in Rockridge would not pencil under current zoning regulations, even with new state law or density bonuses.

Read the whole thing.

Which of these will most help convince developers to build in California again? A. Permit Streamlining B. Upzoning C. Single Stair Buildings D. More Bike Lanes

Project costs have been increasing exponentially, including A&E, high city fees, and construction, along with less tangible costs such as subjective design standards and risk of NIMBYs that work to block density. These in turn cause delays that can cost LOTS of time and money.

This is how you get elected. Promise things that sound great and people will love, like making housing cheap or free. Then enact policies that ultimately make housing more expensive. You can always blame developers later.

These people said I ruined their neighborhood character and ran me out of town!

I’m now officially a “Palisades Fire Incident Contractor”. Not sure whether the fact I was able to obtain this permit is a sign of progress—or the fact I needed it at all a symptom of the opposite.

"Filtering" is very important to understanding the impacts of new market-rate development, but the term seems to be used to describe two different things. Today, I discuss two kinds of "filtering" in housing (and recent economic research on each topic) pencillingout.substack.com/p/what-do-we...

This project was an early example of a mini-lot subdivision, a precursor to the kind of work we’re now pursuing using SB-684. We used a bunch of fun & creative cost-effective strategies—wood beams that extend outside, recycled wood windows, a small fountain, and gutters repurposed as planters.

1 in 7 U.S. homes are now uninsured—many in high-risk markets. As premiums skyrocket, this trend is reshaping buyer behavior and increasing exposure for investors. Here’s what you need to know: danielkaufmanreal.estate/2025/03/26/1...

Registration for YIMBYTown 2025 is open. I've been to many conferences related to cities/housing, and this one is my favorite—engaging sessions (i.e. not all talks/panels), walks and bicycle rides, happy hours, etc. If you're at all interested in pro-housing advocacy, you must attend! yimby.town

Taxing e-bike sales to fund road damage repair caused by cars and to fund new highways that don’t have bike infrastructure. A real “Robin Hood” moment

Things that keep me up at night #814. Ornamentation

Went to another Retwit meetup Friday—small/mid devs gathering in bars and beer gardens to talk shop. No fees, no panels, just real deal stories and info. Scrappy, informal, way more useful than most RE events. These are popping up all over, love to see it.

I’ve had no less than a dozen 5th graders tell me they would buy this house I designed as a collaboration with Ai. So if anyone’s interested in building it, you should have a buyer in about 20 years or so. Unfortunately it will probably take about that long to get it built in California.

Baran Studio was the architect for this 88 unit volumetric wood modular project, which is permanent housing for the homeless in downtown Oakland. Completed in December of 2024, 1888 MLK was leased up immediately after completion by Housing Consortium of the East Bay (HCEB).

Progress update on the SB-684 project we’re working on in Berkeley. We received the green light from planning a few weeks ago. The design direction is set, the engineer is teed up and we’re prepping drawings to submit. More info on our approach ⬇️

From yesterday’s visit to Altadena, a twofer tree / chimney demo with @LukeMelchior307 Things are starting to happen 👀

Things that keep me up at night #788. Rust never sleeps either…

This transformation was the second project I did as Baran Studio Architecture. (The first being the home I developed, designed and built.) At the time I had not yet quite realized I had started a company. A developer dropped by my house because he liked what I had done. And from there we were off!

FAIR Plan insurance payouts of 914M, and overall payout total 6.9B to date. No break out for cleanup and other pre-cost. My understanding is Army Corp cleanup it will be covered regardless of insurance, and won’t ding rebuild payouts. If you have cleanup coverage, private is an option.

After 17 years I’ve updated my YouTube channel 😆 It was fun to reminisce about some of the old projects. There are animations from my days as a student at USC and Berkeley. You can check them out at the link in the comments if you’re curious. Meanwhile, my undergrad thesis ⬇️

Things that keep me up at night #784. Mashups.

Do something every day that scares you! Yesterday I took public transit from LAX to Culver City. It took me approximately 2 hours to go 9 miles.

To make money, developers need to appeal to the desire of consumers who will buy their product, hopefully for more than they paid to build it. We look to ‘Most Advanced Yet Acceptable’ principles, not ‘style’ These low cost / high value add methods tend to set projects apart ⬇️

Words from Karen Bas that will almost certainly live in infamy. Clearing the way to “rebuild homes as they were” will certainly lead us to more of what we had. How about clearing the way to rebuild homes better than they were?

SB-684 interior Ai rendering gradient. I used the Revit model and spent about 15 minutes in LookX last night. I would say that so far Ai is just letting us rapidly explore elements we just wouldn’t have had time for in the past. The work is getting better and faster.

Current view…

Things that keep me up at night #778. Verticies.

We knew that FAIR was going to need a bailout. It’s now officially getting $1B that needs to be paid by insurers, who can in turn pass on 50% to consumers. They need to absorb the other 50%, but are not being granted any rate increases by regulators.

One of the few posts I’ve seen on Bluesky today that didn’t make me want to click ‘see less like this’

We need to stop treating architecture as precious. Change is inevitable, and far more interesting than preserving something in amber for all of ‘eternity’. Sorry neighborhood character people, that means you too.

I was at the Los Angeles FEMA Disaster Recovery Center this week. There is one set up in West LA and another in Altadena. There was a lot of info on site clearing, permitting, and construction. The rebuild picture is getting clearer.

Yesterday I was at the UC Berkeley CED to speak to architecture and development students about how our projects adapt to design, code, and cost conditions (along with site, program and use). (A few of the projects I spoke about ⬇️. We were architect and developer on the first two).

LA County is now accepting permits for expedited ‘like for like’ rebuilds, which can happen concurrently with site clearing. However, you need to have your site cleared before starting construction.

A quick sketch from this week for an SB-684 project we’re working on

When you’re in a place where everyone agrees and there is no dissenting opinion present, how do you have a discussion about alternate views on a subject?