Company Profile

Craig Lawson & Co., LLC is a land use consulting firm based in West Los Angeles providing real estate project entitlement and zoning services, pre-development feasibility analysis,  government/community relations, and expert witness services.  Established in 1999, Craig Lawson & Co., LLC specializes in due diligence research and project analysis, zoning and land use entitlement application preparation (i.e. zone variances, conditional use permits, plan amendments) and management of the entitlement, public hearing, and development permitting process.  Professional services also include government and community relations, project appeals,  responses to permit enforcement actions, project team selection and coordination, project timelines and fee estimates, mitigation monitoring, and expert witness/litigation support.

Craig Lawson, President, has over 28 years of experience in the public and private sectors, including 12 years (1987 to 1999) at C.W. Cook Co., Inc., a well-known Los Angeles land use planning, civil engineering and surveying firm (including the last 6 years as Vice President, Land Use Entitlements), and nearly 10 years (1977 to 1987) as urban planning, transportation policy and economic development advisor to former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley.  He served as Mayor Bradley's liaison to the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee (organizers of the 1984 Olympic Games), and the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, planners for the Metro Rail subway system.  In 1989, he was appointed by Mayor Tom Bradley to serve on the Los Angeles Convention Center Authority (and re-appointed by Mayor Richard Riordan) where he participated in the management and financing of the $500 million L.A. Convention Center Expansion project. He served on the L.A. Convention Center Authority from 1989 to 2002, and serves on the Board of Directors of several local charities and non-profit entities including Alternative Living for the Aging (housing services for senior citizens). He has a B.A. Degree in Political Science and Business Economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and did graduate work in local government and public policy at the USC School of Public Administration.

Craig Lawson & Co., LLC has coordinated the land use entitlement process for projects including:

• The South Group's projects in downtown Los Angeles, including the 412 unit high rise condominium projects at 11th and Grand (two towers known as "Elleven" and "Luma"), a 311 unit tower at 12th and Grand, and a large mixed use development at 12th and Figueroa.
• Three development projects on the "Figueroa North Block" including Astani Enterprises 629 unit project at 9th and Figueroa (including two high rise condominium buildings and one low rise loft building), Hanover Company's 26 story 156 unit apartment building over retail at Figueroa and Olympic, and FIDM Residential's student housing and educational resource center building at Flower and Olympic. 
• Bev Con I LLC's renovation of the Beverly Connection project at La Cienega and Beverly Boulevards, including the addition of condominium units and an assisted living facility.
• Bond Capital (and formerly Regent Properties') Hollywood Marketplace mixed use project including a 105,000 sq. ft. retail/entertainment center and 300 residential rental units at Sunset and Vine (with a multi-level public parking structure and nightclubs with live entertainment).
• GSL Properties Inc. affordable senior housing project (196 units) west of downtown Los Angeles, including a parking variance and several exceptions from the Central City West Specific Plan.
• Target Stores acquisition and redevelopment of the former Fedco Store sites, including due diligence and entitlement processing for the Los Angeles sites (South Central and Van Nuys).
• Kor Realty Group's proposed 479-unit apartment project on a 6.4 acres site in Marina del Rey (County of Los Angeles) including the coordination of numerous technical studies (i.e. EIR, traffic study, methane report, wind study). Craig Lawson & Co., LLC also coordinated entitlements for several other Kor residential and hotel projects, including a 121 unit apartment project in Hancock Park, 2 hotel projects in Beverly Hills, and several downtown loft housing projects.
• New Urban West's zone change and subdivision of 6 acres in Canoga Park to create 40 single family residential lots and a new public street (with less than a standard right of way).
• The Archer School for Girls, the controversial relocation of the private school to the historic Eastern Star Home site on 6 acres in Brentwood, including a full EIR, Conditional Use Permit, Parking Variance, Mitigation Monitoring Program and annual reviews.
• Raleigh Studios Hollywood expansion, including the addition of multi-media office space and construction a 250-car parking structure in a residential zone.
• Two private school projects in Culver City (Turningpoint School and The H.E.L.P. Group) including the conversion of a hospital building to a school for students with special needs.
• Daughters of Charity (St. Vincent's Hospital) Meals on Wheels/Hotel Dieu facility with variances for 114 units of assisted living, 16,000 sq. ft. commercial kitchen, dining hall, chapel and offices.