An historic deal was made Monday when environmental groups agreed to let developers move forward with plans for a new city at Newhall Ranch.
The Newhall Ranch project was originally proposed in the 1980s, but its opposition has arguably been the biggest obstacle to development in one of the only undeveloped areas in L.A. County. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the city will accommodate 58,000 residents in the Santa Clarita Valley. This new city is expected to make a dent in L.A.’s growing housing crisis, adding more affordable options to the Northern part of the county including Lancaster and Palmdale. FivePoint Holdings, the company behind the Newhall Ranch development will provide about $25 million to conservation efforts to preserve endangered species along the Santa Clarita River.
So what does this mean for housing in L.A. and what are environmentalists saying in the wake of the deal?
Guests:
Dan Gluesenkamp, executive director of The California Native Plant Society, a conservation group based in Sacramento that is part of the $25-million deal
Lynne Plambeck, president of the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning and the Environment, a community environmental organization in the Santa Clarita Valley
Stuart Gabriel, professor of finance and director of the Ziman Center for Real Estate at UCLA