California multifamily developer guides
Demolition, Replacement Housing & Relocation
Protected units under the Housing Crisis Act, density-bonus replacement prerequisites, relocation assistance and right-of-return, and federal URA obligations — the rules that decide whether a teardown-and-rebuild pencils.
SB 330 protected units: what a teardown owes the housing it removes
Occupied or recently occupied housing can be demolished for a bigger project — but only with one-for-one replacement, relocation help, and a right of return priced into the deal.
Read the guide →Density-bonus replacement units: the § 65915(c)(3) gate
No replacement, no bonus: sites with rental history in the last five years must rebuild the affordability they had before any § 65915 benefits attach.
Read the guide →Relocation layers: state schedules, the federal URA, and coastal replacement
Displacement carries three potential price lists — state/local schedules, the federal URA when public money is in the stack, and coastal replacement duties — and the most expensive applicable one wins.
Read the guide →Condo conversions: the map, the tenants, and the local gauntlet
The map is the easy part — sitting tenants' purchase rights, § 66300's protected-unit limits and the local conversion ordinance decide whether an apartment-to-condo deal pencils at all.
Read the guide →Seismic retrofits and soft-story mandates: pricing the building you're buying
Mandatory retrofit obligations run with the building and transfer at closing — the city's compliance list belongs in the diligence checklist before you price the deal, not after.
Read the guide →Right of return and tenant preferences: who comes back after you rebuild
Every displacement regime attaches a comeback right — model the lease-up with returning households at restricted rents, not a clean market-rate absorption schedule.
Read the guide →More developer guides
- Density Bonus & Zoning Incentives
- Entitlements & Streamlined Approvals
- Rent Control & Tenant Protections
- Impact Fees, Exactions & Special Taxes
- CEQA & Environmental Review
- Affordable Housing Finance: LIHTC, Bonds & Rental Subsidies
- Building Codes & Construction Standards
- Subdivision, Condo Maps & Development Agreements
- Site Selection & Development Due Diligence
Every rule cited in these guides links to the verbatim statute or regulation in the California Code Library and the federal housing-law library.
Apply these rules to a real parcel
Ask the AI how demolition & replacement play out in a specific city or county — grounded in the code text.