Building Industry Association
of San Diego

Despite the tough economic climate, this year’s Building Industry Show “BIS” aims to get the housing industry bouncing back by totally reinventing the BIS Show experience. The two largest homebuilding associations in California, BIA San Diego and BIA Southern California have joined forces to collaborate on BIS, making it the largest regional trade show of its kind. 

This year a redesigned exhibit floor plan will be offering attendees and exhibitors a new and exciting trade show experience with several new activity hubs throughout the show floor. One of the new hubs will be the Green Pavilion, which will feature an architecturally designed theater dedicated to informative seminars on new green codes, innovative green building solutions and products.  With a second hub added as a Design Pavilion offering attendees new insight from leading Architects, Interior Designers and Landscape Architects. For all those needing their daily caffeine fix, Starbucks is now going to be available on the showroom floor providing yet another opportunity to connect with attendees and exhibitors all on the show floor. 

BIASD President &  Chief Executive Officer, Borre Winckel comments, “I am excited about all the new changes made this year at BIS. We really did our homework on what our exhibitors and attendees are looking for in a trade show and I promise this year’s show will be a totally new and a different experience than previous years. I encourage anyone involved with the building industry to attend.”

The 2010 BIS Trade show will be held at the Long Beach Convention Center on November 18 & 19. Special hotel rates are available at the Long Beach Hyatt Regency. For the latest updates, exhibitor info and online registration please visit www.bisbounce.com.

Did you know we can help your company with fuel and insurance costs, and reduce your cell phone charges?  We also have an online bid room where you can find new work.  Whether you want discounts on business services or the latest industry news and resources, and fun forums for networking, BIA San Diego has it!  Get Details

Karla Valeri

Karla Valeri will be joining BIA on September 9th as as its new Director of Events. Many of you will recognize Karla Valeri as BIA’s very own Karla Scott who worked as our Events Coordinator for three years (2005-2008).  Karla returns to us after a 2-1/2 year tenure with Destination Concepts where she managed a variety of professional events.

We are thrilled to have her back on our team and look forward to the expertise and innovation that she will bring to future BIA events and programs.  BIA also wishes its current events manager, Jennie Bottalico, good luck in her new career. Welcome back to the BIA family Karla!

Last night, BIA member Sudberry Properties, received UNANIMOUS APPROVAL from the Carlsbad City Council for its Palomar Commons project.  This PGL-supported project, is the redevelopment of the former Olympic Hotel, and work (new opportunities) is scheduled to begin as soon as 2011.   This was also the first retail project supported by PGL.  Project Green Light activists who lived or worked in Carlsbad attended the hearing and wrote letters to the City Council urging approval.  Congratulations to Sudberry and all of the PGL activists who helped secure its passage.  Get more information about Project Green Light.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously today to approve the Montecito Ranch Master Planned Community for the Western end of Ramona. Montecito Ranch was a charter member of the BIA’s Project Greenlight, a voluntary, member-driven effort to get development projects approved regionally and to get our members back to work!

Montecito Ranch spans 935 acres and will consist of 417 single-family homes, an 8-acre park and 576 acres of open space. The project spent 12 years in the county’s development services process.

The County Board of Supervisors gave the final go ahead for the Fair and Open Competition Initiative to appear on the November General Election Ballot.  The initiative will prohibit mandatory Project Labor Agreements on all county projects.  It was adopted on a 4 to 1 vote,  with Supervisor Greg Cox again being to lone dissenting vote. It is anticipated that local labor unions will mount a campaign against the initiative heading into the November elections.

“The fundamental purpose of public policy is to protect the public’s health, safety, and welfare. Sometimes, that public policy comes at significant cost.” – an excerpt from The Smith Family House study.

Cities throughout the San Diego region, and across California, have a myriad of complex policies, ordinances, and regulations governing how, when and where homes are built, if any at all. These are the regulatory environments, inclusive of state and federal laws, in which builders must operate, and there is a price to pay to comply with these regulations. Ultimately, they determine product type and pricing, and who can afford to live in a community.

A variety of “specialists” spend several years responding to all these regulations, of which many are subject to constant change. Collectively the regulations have a major impact on the planning, design and building of today’s new homes. In this era of climate change hysteria that permeates Sacramento, it seems that regulations governing development are changing by the day. And compliance with Green House Gas reduction mandates called for in AB32 will only add to the complexity.

To comply with government regulation, homebuilders must engage real estate market analysts, design professionals (planners, architects, civil engineers, landscape architects, utility consultants), lawyers, environmental experts (geologists, biologists, traffic consultants, noise analysts), school financial consultants, and countless others.

It is a gross understatement to note that the housing industry is highly regulated. Some would argue that only the nuclear energy industry tops housing in regulatory requirements. We all get that the nuclear industry is highly regulated to prevent a catastrophe with serious consequences for the public’s health and safety. But what warrants housing to be a close second? The answer is simple. Housing is the sugar daddy of government when other revenue sources are politically, legally and economically not viable. New homes often fund new infrastructure (roads, parks, schools, natural habitat, bridges, art in public places etc.), affordable housing, libraries, courts, police and fire stations and a myriad of public facilities. New homeowners can’t vote on these exactions and the builder / developer faces the denial of the project if they refuse to pay. While this is an over simplification of the matter at hand, it doesn’t take an insider to see the underlying truth about the true cost of City Halls’ red tape. Unfortunately, these costs only go up.

A 1998 study conducted by the University of San Diego’s Real Estate Department found that the cost of government regulation in a local city (direct and indirect) totaled $96,301! That was 26% of the cost of the entire home at the time of the study. Imagine what that cost is today, 13 years later. You would be hard pressed to find a builder who thought government costs were less now.
Statewide, the story is no different. A 2009 study released by the Governor’s office described CA as “one of the worst places in the country to do business.” While not surprising to many builders/developers, the information was quantified in the first study to measure the aggregate quantitative impact of regulations in a particular state.
The study found that the total cost of regulation on the real estate sector was $63,141,397,472 (Direct: $12,490,080,128 and Induced: $50,651,317,344). Read the full study.
BIA San Diego exists in large part to defend and improve the business environment for today’s builders, commercial and residential. Its legislative staff, led by Matthew Adams, concentrates on regulations and fees that affect the building industry. Below is a summary of the core areas that BIA currently tracks and engages in on behalf of its membership:

• Water allocations and landscape ordinances
• Impact fee deferrals and reductions
• Fee levels of all kinds
• Extensions of tentative maps
• Homebuyer tax credit legislation
• Land use compatibility plans
• General Plan updates
• Building code changes
• Green building initiatives
• Environmental mitigation and species habitat planning

To learn more about the specific actions BIA takes on these issues, please contact Matthew Adams.