Breakfast Blog Series #3: Land Use Wizard, Jerold Neuman

Meet Jerry Neuman, Partner at DLA Piper

For this 3rd installment of my Breakfast Blog series, I had the pleasure of sitting down with my longtime friend, Jerry Neuman, Partner and Head of the California Real Estate and Land Use Practice at DLA Piper. Jerry is a visionary in the CRE field and is widely respected as the lead strategist, negotiator and project coordinator for some of Southern California’s most impactful real estate, green energy, infrastructure, and governmental procurement projects.                                                                                                                Beyond his professional achievements, Jerry is deeply committed to civic and community engagement. He has served, and in most instances continues to serve, on the executive boards of several influential commercial and charitable organizations in Los Angeles, including the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Greater Los Angeles, Hollywood Community Housing Corporation, U.S. Vets, SCI-Arc, and as founding director of Mission Valley Bank. All these roles reflect Jerry’s dedication to giving back to community and making a difference.                                                                                                                                        What also sets Jerry apart is his multidimensional background, spanning theater, politics, real estate and law. This unique combination shapes his approach to communities, business and real estate, allowing him to bring                                                                           creativity, empathy, and pragmatism to solving complex challenges.

Homelessness: Understanding the Challenges and Root Causes

When we turned our discussion to the critical issues of homelessness and the lack of affordable housing in Los Angeles, Jerry perked up. He’s spent a lot of time on this issue, previously chairing the Los Angeles Business Leaders Task Force on Homelessness and Home for Good efforts.

Jerry first emphasized the importance of understanding the roots cause of homelessness at its core – on a deeply human and individual level.

A complex variety of factors often lead to someone becoming homeless, many of which may be beyond a person’s control. Being homeless is not a normal condition for which anyone is prepared. Therefore, how one responds to it shouldn’t be expected to be in the realm of normalcy.

Understanding that reality and finding solutions to homelessness requires empathy and a recognition of the survival mode many people are forced into. “How can someone get a job or focus on building a better life,” Jerry asks, “when they don’t know where they’ll sleep tonight, and they’re in survival mode wondering how they’ll make it through the next few hours?”

Crafting Solutions to Affordable Housing and Homelessness

My discussion with Jerry crossed many policy topics, including the challenges to create greater housing affordability and end homelessness, as well as solving many of the related social ills that impact on our community. We explored the idea that the root cause of many of today’s problems lay in the enormous wealth gap that has developed over the past 40 years, along with the diminishment of safety nets and a true middle class.                                                                                                                                                          While we didn’t delve deep into ways to address that larger root problem, we did explore several possible solutions to the topic at hand given that backdrop. Beyond the wealth gap issue, many other reasons driving the housing crisis were discussed. Reasons such as the downzoning movement over recent decades to reduce allowable density to below the current population levels.                                                                                                                        As an example, in the 1970’s the City of Los Angeles was zoned to accommodate a population of 10 million people. Today, the City’s zoning accommodates only 4.2 million people, right round the current population. That is clearly unsustainable and will only exacerbate the City’s housing crisis if not addressed.

Additionally, policies such as the City’s payment process for affordable housing construction, the blunt knife of rent control, as well as the recently enacted (and cynically mislabeled) “mansion tax” were discussed as barriers to badly needed housing development.

Further, we recognized the impact of well-intentioned but counter-productive policies surrounding tenant protections, which can decrease the available land for housing development, as well as increase the risks of investment into housing thereby diminishing available capital.

Finally, we pondered the impact the recent fires will have on the availability of resources (material, labor and governmental) to ensure a continuing flow of new housing development.

In the end, we landed on a few small, and not-so-small, moves that could help change the dynamics around housing, affordability and homelessness. In that vein, Jerry shared a few important policy changes he would implement if he ever had a magic wand to address California’s affordable housing crisis:

Identify Housing as a Required Infrastructure

• Infrastructure investment at both the Federal and State level outpaces housing investment exponentially
• Identifying housing as a “common good” infrastructure worthy of societal investment would help capital flow into needy communities without many of the deep affordability restrictions that most Federal and State housing initiatives carry
• This could be couched as workforce investment thereby attacking the “missing middle” of affordable housing development

Promote Housing Affordability as a Broader Issue

• Tackle the financial challenges families face, beyond just merely paying rent, by creating systems that support people holistically
• Restore and expand financial safety nets at the State level to help individuals navigate life’s inevitable uncertainties and difficulties
• Create local housing affordability funds that can be used to prevent homelessness for those living a paycheck or life event away from being on the streets

Develop Housing for Middle-Income Households

• Encourage the development of housing options specifically targeted at middle-income families, a group that is increasingly priced out of homeownership, especially in Southern California
• Address the “trickle-down” competition among renters that often reduces housing availability for lower-income groups

Develop Policies Promoting Increased Density and Attack Cost Increasing Measures

• Encourage the continued passage of housing policies aimed at changing zoning to allow greater development options, particularly near transportation
• Establish a comprehensive State-level review of existing regulations that negatively impact housing development and investment; prohibit the passage of new regulations with negative consequences
• Similarly, review existing local rent controls and tenant protection ordinances to ensure that, while tenant rights are being legitimately protected, cities do not disincentivize housing construction, nor give rise to abuses of such protections

Provide Opportunities for Workforce and Transitional Housing

• Build more affordable housing options for the lower end of the workforce, ensuring access to stable living conditions for essential workers
• Invest in transitional housing to help homeless populations move from temporary shelters to more permanent and secure housing

Jerry’s insights underscore the importance of taking a holistic approach to the housing crisis – one that prioritizes affordability, accessibility, and long-term sustainability. He reminds us that solving these issues requires a concerted effort from policymakers, developers, and communities alike.

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