Last SeptemberI discussed the strange bidding war for a federal property called “The Ziggurat”. At the time, the bids had risen to $ 154 million. A few weeks later, the property was sold for $ 177 million, despite the fact that they did not make any bid in an earlier auction where the minimum price was $ 75 million, but where buyers were forbidden to demolish the property.
So everything is good that ends well? Not entirely. At the time I was afraid that the new developer would face a lot of bureaucracy and that it would take years to get approval for every type of project. But even I didn’t expect What came afterwards:
An US government agency has canceled the sale of the iconic Ziggurat Federal Office building in South Orange County to the original auction winner and awarded to the HOAG Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, which had submitted it on the second highest offer, said Hoag and the other Bieder on Wednesday.
Hilco Development Services of Long BeachAs a result of which the winning bid of $ 177 million last fall has issued a statement and said that the general service administration last month decided to withdraw the purchase after Hoag had asked an order to stop the sale. . . .
Hoag had complained in his court case that a Hilco partner has violated the conditions of the auction by trying to work together on the price of the sale.
Hilco argued in the court applications that there was no collusion and that there was nothing inappropriate during the auction.
Hilco lawyer Todd Theodora said in a statement that the company will dispute the decision of the GSA and says that the company “is convinced that the GSA will ultimately be kept until its original hardness.”
That’s right, six months later the auction remains unsolved.
Our legal system is one of the biggest obstacles for new development. Even after this specific case has finally been resolved, the developer has to jump through all kinds of hoops to get approval for any form of new development. When that approval is finally granted, local community groups will immediately sue to block the development.
There are reasonable arguments or chosen representatives or the courts must determine what is being built. (I prefer neither – let real estate make the determination.) But the worst possible system is one where no government layer can approve a project effectively, and several layers of the government can block it.
There is one Legislative proposal That would at least somewhat reduce the barriers to the construction:
A New account By Oakland Democratic Assembly member Buffy Wicks, most urban housing developments would exempt from the 55-year-old California Environmental Quality Act.
If it passes – a big one, even in today Ascendent pro-building political environment – It would no longer mean environmental matters Proposed apartment buildingsNo more legislative debates about which projects must be favored with exemptions and no longer use of the law by proponents of environmental justice, building unions and homeowners of anti-development Wrest concessions from developers or Depart them indefinitely.
This will not fully solve the problem-many other obstacles to construction would remain, but at least it would reduce the so-called “nimby” problem in California, which largely explains why people leave the state.
Ps. Once California was a bit lucky in an effective housing policy. Then look at What happened:
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