Two Adaptive Reuse Bills Pass the California Legislature

Assembly Bill 2910 and Assembly Bill 3068 have both passed the California Legislature and head to Governor Newsom's desk for a final decision. Learn more about each bill below. 

With the changing nature of work post-pandemic, there is a need for building owners to have greater flexibility with the use of their buildings.   

What You Need to Know   

Downtown Assemblymember Miguel Santiago's AB 2910 would allow the City of Los Angeles, if they have compliant Housing Elements, to adopt an ordinance to speed up adaptive reuse projects and create simpler code rules for older buildings.  

This aims to reduce the retrofitting burden on safe, repurposed buildings.   

The California Building Standards Commission must review and approve these rules within 90 days.  

Assemblymember Haney's AB 3068 would allow cities and counties to offer financial incentives for adaptive reuse projects and would streamline the approval process for converting. 

Other updates: 

Assembly Bill 2909 has unfortunately not passed the California legislature, but would have expanded the Mills Act to make it easier to convert old business buildings into homes in the City of Los Angeles.  

For example, buildings over 30 years old in business areas could have been turned into rental homes, with tax breaks for owners to fund the conversion.  

How it Impacts You

These bills have the potential to give building owners greater flexibility with their properties to adapt to the changing nature of work and what the market demands.    

Currently, adaptive reuse projects are difficult to pencil out with high retrofit costs and narrow margins.  

These bills could reduce some of those burdens and make these projects more attractive.   

Stay Connected

Please stay connected with us at BOMA on the Frontline to find out if Governor Newsom supports our industry by signing these two adaptive reuse bills into law.

AB 2910 results can be found here.