State of the State and Housing: New Initiatives for Housing Development and How to Use Them

AIA|LA Government Outreach (GO!) Committee Roundtable…

State of the State and Housing: New Initiatives for Housing Development and How to Use Them

This informative and lively session will be especially compelling to our members on the front lines of the challenges to providing affordable housing in our city – diving in to the details of newly enacted legislation coming online to facilitate this important work. We present a discussion between noted Land Use Attorney Elisa Paster of Rand Paster Nelson, herself deeply knowledgeable about the complexities of entitling projects, and Matt Glesne of Los Angeles City Planning describing the work currently being done in implementing these regulations and to support and facilitate their use.

Presenters:

Elisa Paster – Managing Partner, Rand Paster & Nelson LLP

Matt Glesne, AICP – Senior City Planner, Los Angeles City Planning

Chava Danielson, AIA – Chair, AIA|LA GO! & Principal of DSH // architecture (moderator)

Graciously hosted by KFA, LLP at their office in the Hayden Tract of Culver City.

BIOS:

Elisa Paster – Managing Partner, Rand Paster & Nelson LLP

As an experienced land use lawyer, Elisa Paster is a committed advocate for her clients, guiding and assisting them with development and environmental approvals, planning and placemaking. She specializes in navigating complex entitlement and environmental processes across California, including Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Culver City, Long Beach, Glendale, Beverly Hills, Orange County, the unincorporated County of Los Angeles, and Northern California. Elisa is involved in all aspects of the development process: assisting in due diligence stages, strategizing on development and redevelopment of land, processing applications and overseeing environmental compliance (CEQA/NEPA), representing clients in front of public bodies, including appellate bodies, and defending the entitlements in litigation.

Elisa regularly represents private developers in development of hotels and large-scale developments, mid- size developers in transformative urban mixed- use projects inside and outside former redevelopment areas, and a wide variety of property owners in the Coastal Zone. An important part of Elisa’s practice involves working with affordable housing developers and streamlining the process for these projects. She has consistently taken on complex land use challenges, big or small, and provided the necessary level of advice and guidance to get the job done through effective legal advocacy, strategic advice and personal relationships. Whether a project involves strategic advisement or a full environmental and planning process, Elisa’s extensive range of experience in land use and environmental law is an asset to her clients.

Before law school, she worked as a planner for five years and she is well respected in the professional planning community. Her previous “behind the counter” experience allows her to think creatively about legal issues and provides clients with a unique perspective.

Elisa is a long time Boardmember of Menorah Housing, a provider of low-income senior housing, and the past president of the Westside Urban Forum. She is former member of the City of Santa Monica Planning Commission and a frequent speaker at law, real estate and planning conferences. She is a frequent guest lecturer for Urban Land Institute panels as well.

Elisa is admitted to practice law in Missouri, New Mexico and California.

Matt Glesne, AICP – Senior City Planner, Los Angeles City Planning

Matthew Glesne leads the housing policy unit of the Los Angeles Department of City Planning. In this position he is responsible for the implementation of various citywide housing-related land use polices including the City’s short term rental ordinance as well as new incentive and streamlining programs for the creation and preservation of affordable housing. He has a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Chava Danielson, AIA – Chair, AIA|LA GO! & Principal of DSH // architecture

Chava Danielson, AIA is a Principal of DSH // architecture with specialties in design, project advocacy, and serving non-profit organizations. She focuses on imparting beauty and sensitive programming to recharge underserved neighborhoods through educational, therapeutic and residential projects for non-profits committed to the community.

Danielson teaches Design Studio at the USC School of Architecture, has taught at both Otis College of Art + Design and the Executive Master of Urban Planning program at USC’s Price School. She currently co-chairs the AIA Los Angeles’ Government Outreach Committee; served as a Director for the Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design and as a founding Director of Larchmont Charter School. She holds an M.Arch. from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University and a B.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Berkeley.

She is currently Secretary for the Board of Directors of the AIA Los Angeles, and serves on the AIA California Council Board.

Please contact Will Wright with any questions.