Jon E. Goetz

Jon Goetz is a Senior Of Counsel at Redwood Public Law. He has 35 years of experience in real estate, land use, environmental, redevelopment, affordable housing and municipal law. Jon represents a broad spectrum of private-sector landowners and real estate developers, cities, counties, housing authorities, universities and other public entities in complex real estate transactions, land use planning, public-private development, infrastructure financing and affordable housing transactions. He has extensive experience in all aspects of real estate transactions ― acquiring, financing, leasing and disposing of all forms of improved and unimproved real property, including public-use properties.

Jon has special expertise advising clients on California’s Density Bonus Law. He authors and annually updates the “Guide to the California Density Bonus Law,” which is a booklet that helps explain the intricacies of a complex law that is designed to increase the supply of affordable or senior housing.

Jon has served as lead attorney for a multitude of real property matters, including more than 50 commercial and retail projects, including construction and rehabilitation of regional and neighborhood shopping centers, hotels, theaters, “big box” stores, restaurants and auto dealerships, and numerous purchases and sales of residential, business and agricultural properties.

He also has advised on more than 150 housing developments and programs involving thousands of affordable and market rate housing units. His housing projects include a variety of housing types including affordable rental developments, mixed income for-sale housing communities, master planned communities and mixed use and transit oriented developments, encompassing new construction, acquisition/rehabilitation and homebuyer programs.


Jon has represented multifamily and single family housing developers in affordable housing transactions financed with federal tax credits, bond financing and other governmental financing. Jon advises developers on the use of the California density bonus law to obtain additional housing density, more favorable parking requirements, and other land use benefits in exchange for providing affordable and senior housing.

Jon is counsel to a nonprofit corporation which develops and operates workforce housing for faculty and staff at a University of California campus. He has participated in the development of a number of other university workforce housing projects throughout the state.

Jon’s client work involves close cooperation between private developers and public agency officials and staff, processing a variety of land use entitlements, environmental and CEQA approvals, and documenting purchase, lease, development and infrastructure agreements. In these matters, Jon focuses on quickly and efficiently resolving issues through negotiation and creative problem-solving. On those occasions when litigation is necessary, Jon participates in both traditional litigation and administrative mandamus proceedings.

Jon also has considerable expertise in prevailing wages, advising public agencies and developers of residential, hotel, office, retail and shopping center projects on ways to structure public agency agreements to avoid or minimize prevailing wage obligations. He has represented parties in Department of Industrial Relations administrative determination matters.

Jon’s background includes being a shareholder at regional law firms, where he represented redevelopment agencies, private developers, universities and others in public-private real estate development projects, financings and other real property and public law matters.
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