By Roger Vincent
June 9, 2026
A new state law that allows denser housing development near major transit stops goes into effect in July, opening the door to construction of more than 1 million new units in California’s urban centers.
The law forces cities to approve taller apartment and condominium complexes around rail stops, ferry terminals and rapid transit bus stops, overriding local restrictions that might have stopped development in the past.
The Abundant and Affordable Homes Near Transit Act, also known as Senate Bill 79, is one of the most aggressive measures state legislators have taken to address California’s housing shortage in recent years.
Real estate developers are already cautiously planning to take advantage of the eased regulations and plan to announce new projects after the law goes into effect.
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“This removes a bunch of uncertainty” about whether proposed projects will get approved, said Chief Executive Sean Burton of Cityview, one of the largest apartment developers in the state. “We’re very excited about it.
“This law limits the ability of local governments and officials to block new housing projects as long as you live within the parameters of the bill,” Burton said. “This should really accelerate the production of new housing in Los Angeles and beyond.”
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Los Angeles is among the cities that have moved to at least temporarily blunt the requirements of SB 79 after opposing it in a resolution last year that said the bill “undermines local governance, circumvents local decision-making processes and imposes unintended burdens on communities.”
In March, the City Council adopted a strategy to delay the effects of SB 79 citywide by upzoning 55 single-family and low-density areas, allowing four- to 16-unit buildings up to four stories tall. The 55 areas are mostly in Central L.A., West L.A., the Eastside and the San Fernando Valley.
Assuming there’s no pushback from Sacramento, the plan adopted by the City Council will allow L.A. to kick the proverbial can down the road, delaying SB 79 implementation until 2030.
Developers are miffed by the delay, Burton said. “You hear from the City Council that they want more housing, but then they oppose the laws that would create more housing.”
He does expect that new state laws, including SB 79 and last year’s partial rollback of the California Environmental Quality Act — known as CEQA — that made it easier to win approval for real estate developments, will lead to growth.
“You’re going to see a lot more additional housing built in California,” Burton said, “but I think a lot of that is gonna unfortunately skip Los Angeles city because of Measure ULA. That remains the major barrier to new housing development.”
Known as the “mansion tax,” Measure ULA levies an additional real estate transfer tax on high-value property sales that developers say limits their ability to build profitably.
“I think you’ll see Santa Monica benefit and Culver City benefit and Pasadena and Glendale benefit and West Hollywood benefit,” from new housing created through SB 79,” Burton said. “I don’t know how much benefit you’re going see in the city of Los Angeles because they didn’t deal with the biggest issue, the mansion tax.”
