Trends in Real Estate Transactions -- From Problems to Opportunities -- Keep Southern California Developers Busy

For its fall 2011 magazine, the Urban Land Institute's magazine published an article on real estate and development trends in Southern California. The article notes that after a three year lull in activity, signs of life may be reappearing for developments in the region.

The article quotes Mario Camara, a real estate and development partner with Cox Castle & Nicholson in Los Angeles. Camara said that one bright spot is multi-family housing. Likewise, there is increasing demand for senior and assisted living housing, he said. "As a result, governments have softened land use regulations for these developments and created density bonuses," Camara added. "We are bound to see more of that."

One remaining area of uncertainty is Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to eliminate the state's redevelopment agencies -- many of which help to fund new developments. If they are, in fact, eliminated, Camara asks, "Where do we get revenue to replace the governments portion of these deals?"