Lusk Perspectives

Redeveloping public housing can improve surrounding neighborhoods, but those benefits are not always shared equally.

Lizhong Liu (RAND) joins Richard K. Green (USC Lusk Center for Real Estate) to discuss how housing shapes access to opportunity and how redevelopment can extend that opportunity beyond the public housing site itself. Drawing on national research and examples including Chicago's Robert Taylor Homes and Los Angeles' Jordan Downs, Liu highlights measurable neighborhood gains alongside the high costs, displacement, and other difficult tradeoffs that can come with redevelopment.

Highlights include:

• How public housing deteriorated in the US and how the HOPE VI program sought to improve both the properties and their surrounding neighborhoods
• Evidence that HOPE VI neighborhoods experienced increases in average resident income, housing value, and rents
• Why some redevelopment projects can cost millions of dollars per unit and who defines what's "worth it"
• The displacement problem: fewer than 30% of original residents typically returned after redevelopment, a shortcoming the newer Choice Neighborhoods Initiative is designed to address

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Valuing real estate increasingly means forecasting industries that may look very different a decade from now.

Cynthia Nelson (FTI Consulting) joins Richard K. Green (USC Lusk Center for Real Estate) to discuss the forces reshaping commercial real estate, from distressed debt and refinancing challenges to the future of entertainment production, data centers, and California's economy. Drawing on her experience in restructuring, Nelson explains how investors, lenders, and owners find solutions when markets shift faster than expectations.

Highlights include:

- Revisiting the aftermath of Southern California's aerospace downturn in the 1990s - How workouts and restructurings help lenders and borrowers find common ground - Why some multifamily properties face refinancing challenges despite strong occupancy - California's extraordinary investment potential, despite its affordability and governance challenges - Where investors are beginning to see opportunity in distressed office assets and commercial real estate debt

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Water is increasingly behaving in ways that defy our plans. How should cities prepare when the risks keep changing?

Roni Deitz (Arcadis) joins Richard K. Green (USC Lusk Center for Real Estate) to explore how water is reshaping real estate, infrastructure, and long-term investment. Starting with recent storms like Hurricane Helene and their devastating impacts, the conversation expands to examine a new reality: the baseline assumptions guiding water and development may no longer hold.

Highlights include:

• Why mapped flood risk often misses the reality of risk over time
• The limits of engineering, and why aligned land use decisions are necessary for resilience
• What "one water" thinking looks like in practice, from stormwater to wastewater
• How cities like New York are aligning policy, finance, and infrastructure in flood-prone areas
• How integrating policy and practice can make cities more stable and investible

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Making more affordable housing is challenging, but it's far from impossible.

Kyle Ransford (Cardinal Investments) joins Richard K. Green (USC Lusk Center for Real Estate) to offer a practical look at operating in today's multifamily market. The conversation covers Ransford's path from early-90s dealmaking to building a portfolio focused on workforce and affordable housing across Southern California.

Ransford explains how Section 8 functions in practice, from lease-up timelines to tenant stability. He also argues that strong management, often more than physical upgrades, drives value in a given property, especially in smaller buildings. The episode also explores rising operating costs, the realities of owning in Los Angeles, and why expanding condo development and homeownership could help ease supply constraints.

Highlights include:

• A realistic view of Section 8 housing's challenges and opportunities
• The top upgrades tenants feel first, from air conditioning to in-unit laundry
• Why property management drives value in the majority of acquisitions
• The growing gap between operating costs and achievable rents
• How condo development and liability reform could unlock more housing supply

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What does it actually take to rebuild after a disaster—and who gets to build back?

Longtime Altadena resident and development professional Joel Bryant (Bronzeville, Inc.) joins Richard K. Green (USC Lusk Center for Real Estate) to cover the real-world mechanics of post-wildfire rebuilding. Drawing on his decades of experience in multifamily projects, Bryant explains how homeowners are navigating surveys, insurance constraints, permitting, and construction costs while detailing the small but meaningful milestones that signal progress.

The conversation transitions from the practical to the systemic: how the permitting process has evolved since the fires, what it takes to secure approvals quickly, and why architects play a critical role in keeping projects on track. As rebuilding efforts gather momentum, a central question remains: rebuilding for whom?

Highlights include:

• The step-by-step process of rebuilding a home after wildfire loss
• How projected timelines are playing out in Altadena
• Why permitting speed depends as much on people as on portals
• How insurance limits shape design and feasibility
• ADUs, density, and the future of Altadena's commercial corridors
• Preserving community identity while rebuilding at scale

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What's driving the uneven recovery at the core of California cities, and how is that impacting housing and investment?

Sean Burton (Cityview) joins Richard K. Green (USC Lusk Center for Real Estate) discussing the forces and fundamentals reshaping urban markets. The conversation moves from post-pandemic population shifts and the surge in AI-driven demand to the regulatory dynamics influencing Southern California development.

Highlights include:

• Why San Francisco may be turning a corner and whether an AI boom can sustain it.
• How concerns about regulatory risk have chilled investor sentiment in the City of Los Angeles.
• Where supply–demand imbalances are creating long-term opportunities.
• What San Diego got right to accelerate permitting and development.
• The latest progress in rebuilding after the LA County wildfires.

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California's recent wave of pro-housing legislation has opened the door for more development on single-family lots and urban infill sites, but how much progress have we really made?

Shane Phillips (UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies) joins Richard K. Green (USC Lusk Center for Real Estate) to trace California's evolving policy landscape, from accessory dwelling units to long-overdue CEQA reform.

The conversation moves from the success of recent ADU regulations to the barriers slowing smaller-scale infill and condo development. Cost structures, ownership models, and building standards all shape housing supply. Phillips and Green discuss how policy could better balance affordability, density, and quality of life across Southern California.

Highlights include:

- Why recent ADU laws succeeded where earlier reforms fell short. - Potential condo liability reforms to encourage smaller-scale housing ownership. - How construction costs constrain "missing middle" infill. - The trade-offs of eliminating single-room occupancy housing in US cities. - How ownership models shape neighborhood attitudes and investment.

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UCLA Housing Voice Podcast

How are retailers adapting to a changing consumer base and evolving real estate needs?

Rachel Elias Wein (WeinPlus) joins Richard K. Green (USC Lusk Center for Real Estate) to explore what's next for retail. From data centers to neighborhood shopping centers, consumer behavior is driving change. The conversation spotlights how ownership models, store management, and customer habits are reshaping commercial property strategy.

Highlights include:

• Why some retailers sell off their real estate while others buy it back.
• How energy access impacts location strategy.
• What restaurants bring to retail destinations despite tenant turnover risks.
• The strong link between store-manager tenure and store profitability.
• Why omnichannel customers are the most valuable, and how real estate plays a role in retention.

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What do supply numbers tell us about LA County's housing crisis, and how can research guide next steps?

Jorge De la Roca (USC Price) joins Richard K. Green (USC Lusk Center for Real Estate) to discuss the findings of the 2025 State of Los Angeles County Housing (SOLACHAN) Report

At the center of their conversation is the modern city dilemma: while cities drive economic vitality, they also create steep costs of living. In LA County, permitting delays, demographic shifts, and a mismatch between incomes and supply add up to a housing market that's falling short.

Highlights include:

• Why building a multifamily project in LA takes nearly twice as long as the national average.
• Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are driving new supply, but may not translate to housing.
• The widening income split between renters.
• Demographic shifts show fewer families and declining Black residents in LA.
• Why the favored model of filtering can't take hold at current levels of housing production.

Explore the SOLACHAN Report

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What shaped Related California's approach to housing, and how has it adapted across market shifts?

William A. Witte and Gino A. Canori (Related California) join Richard K. Green (USC Lusk Center for Real Estate) to reflect on more than three decades of development, from pioneering uses of tax-exempt bonds to navigating today's capital markets.

The conversation begins with policy and finance, including tax credits, bond cap programs, and the long-term value of rehab versus new construction, before moving to operations, the shifting geography of multifamily demand, and today's market reset.

Highlights include:

- How Related carved out a niche by combining market-rate housing with affordable units under the 80/20 program - Post-COVID shifts in multifamily demand from urban cores to suburban, amenity-rich destinations. - Underwriting is still absorbing the spike in insurance and labor costs while the new normal continues to emerge. - Signs of recovery in San Francisco leasing and investment. -The economics and operational tactics of managing mixed-income buildings.

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