MEET OUR TEAM

Founding Partner

Craig Lawson has over 45 years of experience in the public and private sectors, including 25 years as President and Founding Partner of Craig Lawson & Co., LLC (“CLC”), 12 years at C.W. Cook Co., Inc., a well-known Los Angeles land use planning, civil engineering and surveying firm, and nearly 10 years as urban planning, transportation policy, and economic development advisor to former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. 

Craig has developed an expertise in zoning research and land use analysis, entitlement strategies, project management, and obtaining local government approvals for complex and multi-phase development projects.  CLC has successfully represented and secured entitlement approvals on many of the larger development projects in Downtown Los Angeles, including the Metropolis megaproject, the Circa high-rise condo project, and various large-scale projects for Brookfield, Mitsui, Jamison Properties, The Hanover Company and Holland Partner Group. The firm has successfully processed over 100 projects in Downtown Los Angeles, gaining approvals for more than 15,000 housing units and over 2 million square feet of commercial, retail, hotel, and office space.

Under Craig’s leadership, CLC coordinated the entitlement process for numerous schools, churches, synagogues, hospitals, and museums including Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Zumthor designed building), LA LGBT Center (headquarters and senior housing), Emerson College, Southwestern Law School, Harvard-Westlake School, Temple Israel, Temple Beth Am, St. Matthew’s Parish School, Crespi Carmelite, Kaiser Permanente Hospitals and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.  CLC has successfully processed land use entitlement applications for thousands of affordable housing units being developed by nonprofit developers including Abode Communities, A Community of Friends, SRO Housing Corp., Skid Row Housing Trust, PATH Ventures, Mercy Housing, and the Weingart Center.

Craig has served as an Expert Witness in dozens of zoning and land use matters (including court testimony) and has managed the land use entitlement process for hundreds of mixed use, residential, commercial, institutional and affordable housing projects.  He is active in community leadership and serves on the Advisory Board of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Los Angeles Chapter, as an appointed member of the ULI National Product Council on Transit Oriented Development, and is an elected member of Lambda Alpha International (an honorary land economics society). 

A native of West Los Angeles, Craig has a B.A. Degree in Business Economics and Political Science (double major) from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and has done graduate work at the University of Southern California.

Co-Managing Partner

Jim Ries has been with Craig Lawson & Co., LLC since its inception in 1999. He has over 30 years of experience in architecture, development, and land use entitlements, including 25 years with Craig Lawson & Co., LLC (“CLC”), 10 years at Bobrow Thomas Associates (BTA), 2 years at the Malibu Bay Company (owner of key commercial land parcels in Malibu), and one year (1998-1999) at C.W. Cook Co., Inc.

His academic achievements include a B.A. degree in Political Science and a Master’s degree in Urban Planning, both from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

During his time at CLC, Jim has coordinated the entitlements for numerous in-fill mixed use and development projects covering a wide spectrum of project types and sizes, including commercial, retail, institutional and residential projects throughout the Los Angeles region.  Since 2002, he has specifically focused on mixed-use and multi-family residential projects that locate housing near jobs and transit.  In the Central City area of downtown Los Angeles, he coordinated the approvals for the high-rise residential towers at 9th and Figueroa (known as Apex and Alina), 8th & Grand, 8th & Olive, Park Fifth and Amacon developments, entitling thousands of residential units over ground floor commercial space located within walking distance of the region’s largest employment and transit hub. In the San Fernando Valley, Jim coordinated the entitlements for the Il Villaggio Toscana mixed use project (325 multi-family residential units over 52,000 square feet of neighborhood-oriented commercial uses).  In the Venice area, Jim successfully entitled the Whole Foods Market project at Lincoln and Rose.

Jim also played a key role in the residential renaissance of the Downtown Arts District by coordinating entitlements for numerous adaptive-reuse projects including the Toy Factory Lofts, Biscuit Lofts, Barker Block, At Mateo, and other buildings. 

Jim has a specialty focus on 100% affordable housing projects including the Rolland Curtis Gardens, New Dana Strand Village, Weingart Towers and Enlightenment Plaza projects plus numerous other family, senior and Permanent Supportive Housing projects for a variety of nonprofit organizations.  Jim has also coordinated entitlement efforts for the expansion of educational facilities including TurningPoint School, The Help Group, Yeshiva University of Los Angeles, and the Maimonides Academy.

Jim has served as an Expert Witness on several litigation matters.  His Expert Witness work included representing the State of California Department of Transportation (Giro Properties, LLC v State of CA et al), representing private property owners adverse to the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles, California vs Eli Sasson) as well land use disputes between private parties (East Los Angeles Health Task Force, Inc. V. B Squared).  The work focused on defining a site’s highest and best use, the potential for land use entitlement approvals altering the current zoning and zoning compliance issues. 

Jim is a regular guest lecturer at UCLA Ziman Affordable Housing Development Training program.  He is serving his 4th appointed term as a member of the City of Santa Monica’s Planning Commission.  He was also a member and past Chair of Santa Monica’s Sustainable City Task Force.  Past community involvement includes serving as a board member of the Pico Neighborhood Association, and as part of the Affordable Housing Homeownership Task Force sponsored by Community Corporation of Santa Monica. 

Co-Managing Partner

Donna Shen Tripp has over 25 years of experience in community planning, housing and economic development advocacy, and representation of land development projects. As a Partner at land use consulting firm Craig Lawson & Co., LLC (CLC), she and her team have successfully represented and entitled tens of thousands of units of affordable and market-rate housing, as well as hundreds of educational, medical, and commercial projects. Prior to joining CLC, she served for over a decade as Regional Manager of a land use consulting firm that specializes in Coastal and Santa Monica Mountains development projects. Before that, as a U.S. Presidential Management Fellow, Donna served as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Community Planning and Development (CPD) at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  While at HUD, Donna was very involved with CPD’s affordable housing, homelessness assistance, community planning and economic development programs and grants. 

In February of 2025, Donna was appointed by Los Angeles County Lindsey Horvath to serve on the Blue Ribbon Commission on Climate Action and Fire Safe Recovery which charge is to develop comprehensive recommendations to serve as a roadmap for recovery in Los Angeles County subsequent to the January 2025 wildfires.

Donna is a member of the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI’s) national Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Product Council. She also currently serves as Co-Chair of the Land Use Committee for the Valley Industry & Commerce Association (VICA), and is a member of Everychild Foundation where she serves on the Grant Screening Board, reviewing, evaluating, and making recommendations on applications for Everychild’s annual million dollar grant. 

She also previously served on the City of Los Angeles’ Housing Element Update Task Force, a ULI-LA Technical Assistance Panel, and LA Family Housing’s Board of Directors.

She has a B.A. Degree in Sociology and Government from Georgetown University, a Master of Science degree in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego.

Since 2020, Donna has been an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern California (USC), Price School of Public Policy, in the Master of Real Estate Development (MRED) program.

Vice President

Shane joined CLC in 2015 and has since conducted zoning due diligence and managed the entitlement process for hundreds of mixed-income residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial development projects throughout California.  Prior to joining CLC, Shane was a Senior Associate at Chattel, Inc., a historic preservation consulting firm.  During his 5 years at Chattel, Inc., he advised public, private, and non-profit sector clients on issues and opportunities associated with historic designations and eligibility determinations, and he secured local, state, and federal approvals for adaptive reuse and rehabilitation of historic properties throughout the West.  He worked closely with staff at the Los Angeles Department of City Planning and other local governments and community groups on historic preservation and associated land use issues.  Shane has also served on the Board of Directors and Planning and Land Use Committee of Los Angeles’ Mid City West Neighborhood Council.  This experience has enabled him to be especially effective in conducting community outreach for projects requiring discretionary approval.

Shane has met the U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualifications Standards in Architectural History.  Shane has B.S. degrees in Public Policy, Management, & Planning and Business Administration from the University of Southern California (USC), where he graduated cum laude and received the Order of the Laurel and Palm (top 1% of his class).  He remains actively involved at USC, where he has served as Chair of the USC Alumni Real Estate Network, President of the USC Price School of Public Policy Alumni Association, member of the USC Alumni Association Board of Governors, and mentor to current students. Shane is a frequently invited guest speaker at USC on topics related to historic preservation and the land use entitlement process.

Administrative Director

Lauren has been with CLC since 2006, starting out as a Land Use Intern while still at UCLA and becoming a Project Manager over the next 16 years, helping to conduct zoning analysis and to secure entitlement approvals on a variety of mixed-use and multi-family residential development projects.  With a keen interest and skill for operational management, in 2023, Lauren became CLC’s Administrative Director where she serves as the firm’s office manager, human resources specialist, bookkeeper, and a senior advisor to the firm’s Partners.

Lauren has a Bachelor’s Degree in Geography & Environmental Studies, as well as a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning, both from UCLA.  She is a licensed notary.

Senior Project Manager II

Andie has over 27 years of experience working in urban planning, design, and land use including over 20 years with CLC.  Prior to joining CLC, she worked on residential and urban infill projects at Killefer Flammang Architects (KFA).  While at CLC, Andie has coordinated complex land use analyses and application packages for the LACMA renovation and expansion project, the downtown Los Angeles Metropolis residential and retail complex in four towers project, and McCormack, Baron, Salazar’s and MTA’s transit-oriented Joint Development projects including the Taylor Yard Project (a mixed-use, mixed-income project with over 400 residential units and over 25,0000 square feet of retail and commercial space on a 17.75-acre site), the MacArthur Park Project (a mixed-use affordable project with 172 residential units and over 32,000 square feet of retail at the Westlake/MacArthur Park Metro Station) and the Highland Park Transit Village Project (a mixed-income project with 119 residential units at the Highland Park Metro Station).

Given her architectural training and nearly three decades of entitlements experience, Andie has demonstrated a unique skill set for managing “mega-projects” with complex entitlements, subdivision Tract Map requests, phased approaches, signage districts, and specialized discretionary requests.

Andie is an active member of the Central City Association (CCA) in Los Angeles.  She has a B.A. Degree in Economics from the University of California, Irvine, and a Master’s Degrees in Urban Planning and Architecture from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Project Manager II

Josh joined Craig Lawson & Co., LLC as a Project Manager in 2019 and has over a decade of experience in planning, real estate development, land use entitlements and economic development in Southern California. He has successfully managed the land use entitlement process for complex projects throughout the Los Angeles region, including large mixed-use projects, market-rate residential, permanent supportive housing, office, retail, charter schools, hospital and industrial projects. 

In addition to being an expert on affordable housing incentives/streamlining, Josh has worked on a number of high-profile projects, including the redevelopment of the former MWD headquarters into a mixed-use campus, the Cumulus mixed-use development and the Shay Hotel at Ivy Station. He has also handled complex entitlement applications for regional hospital expansions and secured approvals for a number of large industrial/logistics facilities.

Prior to joining Craig Lawson & Co., LLC, Josh was the Director of Real Estate and Planning for the South Park Business Improvement District (SPBID) in Downtown Los Angeles where he led economic development efforts for one of the fastest growing neighborhoods in the country.  Josh has experience working on the public, private and non-profit sides of land use planning and has worked on Public Private Partnerships with various government agencies including the Los Angeles Planning Department, Los Angeles City Council, Los Angeles County Metro, the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office and Los Angeles Department of Transportation.

Josh has previous experience at Jones Lang La Salle, the Downtown Center Business Improvement District (DCBID) for Downtown Los Angeles and Kosmont Companies. He has served on the Board of Directors and Government Liaison Committee for the Downtown Loa Angeles Neighborhood Council (DLANC).

Josh earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego and his B.A. in Sociology from the University of Maryland. 

Project Manager II

Jessica joined CLC in August of 2014.  She has conducted zoning and land use analyses and managed the processing of discretionary entitlement requests for numerous projects including the Jewish Family Service headquarters project in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles, Madame Tussauds Hollywood rooftop restaurant and bar, and several permanent supportive housing projects in Downtown Los Angeles, West Los Angeles, and the San Fernando Valley.  Prior to joining CLC, Jessica was an Associate at Urban One where she coordinated the environmental review for the Downtown L.A. Streetcar Project.  Before that, Jessica worked at the USC Real Estate and Asset Management Department where she was responsible for assisting in compliance with mitigation measures of the USC Specific Plan. 

Jessica has been active with the Urban Land Institute – Los Angeles (currently serving as Co-Chair of the Mobility Council) and the Central City Association (CCA), where she has played a leadership role on working groups involved in the development of new land use and housing policies. 

Jessica earned her Master’s Degree in Urban Planning at the University of Southern California, concentrating in both Transportation and the Preservation and Design of the Built Environment.  She also holds a B.A. in Anthropology and Sociology from Whittier College.

Project Manager I

Aimee Luan joined Craig Lawson & Co., LLC in 2016 as an intern and quickly advanced to a Project Manager position within 5 years of joining CLC as a full-time associate. She specializes in zoning analysis research and preparing and processing entitlement applications for mixed-use and joint public/private developments and 100% affordable/Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) projects. Aimee was lead Project Manager on the complex joint development project between Metro and Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) above the Vermont/Santa Monica Metro station. Aimee is particularly well-versed in the various State and local streamlining options for PSH projects and application thereof.  Prior to joining Craig Lawson & Co., LLC, Aimee was a Community Development Assistant at the City of Reno, where she directly worked with residents and developers to address development concerns that relate to planning and zoning issues. Her responsibilities expanded during her two years at the City of Reno to include providing preliminary plan check on minor residential building permits, reviewing business license applications for appropriate zoning and parking standards, preparing public notices for city hearings, and verifying all existing off-site signs within city limits. 

Aimee is an active member of the American Planning Association (APA) – Los Angeles.  She has a B.S. Degree in both Economics and Finance from the University of Nevada – Reno and her Master’s degree in Planning from the University of Southern California.

Project Manager II

Jon joined Craig Lawson & Co., LLC in 2019.   Prior to working at CLC, Jon was a Development Associate and a Preconstruction Associate for Jamison Properties in Los Angeles.  Jon previously also worked in City National Bank’s Real Estate Division and as an Analyst for Valbridge Property Advisors.  Jon is one of CLC’s experts on industrial development projects throughout the Greater Los Angeles area, having a keen understanding of local and state regulations related to industrial development and having successfully advised on and secured approvals for a number of light industrial/warehouse/logistics facilities.  Particularly well-versed in state and local housing laws and incentive programs, Jon has also conducted complex zoning analyses, advised on, and secured approvals for several 100% affordable, Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH), and mixed-income housing projects in Los Angeles.  Additionally, Jon has provided zoning and land use analysis and entitlement services on dozens of complex mixed-use, transit-adjacent development proposals. 

A native of Los Angeles, Jon is a graduate of Harvard-Westlake School and received his B.A. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Project Manager I

Jamie joined Craig Lawson & Co., LLC in 2015, and specializes in conducting zoning and land use analysis for complex sites and development proposals.  Jamie has successfully managed the land use entitlement process for dozens of mixed-income and affordable/Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) projects throughout greater Los Angeles.  More recently, Jamie secured entitlement approvals for the Ross Center for Hope and Healing, a collaborative effort by The California Endowment and Linc Housing. Of note, Jamie entitled a PSH project in the City of Huntington Park, which was one of the City’s first. She helped the City define and structure the discretionary review process and successfully secured approvals for a General Plan Amendment, Zoning Map Amendment, Tract Map, a Sustainable Communities Project Exemption (SCPE), as well as for the creation of a new Affordable Housing Overlay – all within 5 months.  Jamie has also successfully represented and entitled a number of educational and religious institutional projects.  Prior to working at CLC, Jamie was a land use consultant with the Taylor Group where she worked on development projects subject to Specific Plans.

Jamie earned her Master’s degree in Public Policy from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, and has a B.A. in Music from Colby College.  Jamie holds an American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) certification. She is currently the President of the Board of the Westside Urban Forum (WUF) and was an appointed member of the Palms Neighborhood Council where she served as Chair of the Planning and Land Use Committee.

Associate Project Manager I

Luke joined Craig Lawson & Co., LLC as an Assistant Project Manager in the Spring of 2022.  Luke has conducted zoning analysis, and prepared, successfully filed and processed numerous entitlement applications, including several for private and public charter schools throughout the Los Angeles region.  Luke also has provided land use analysis and entitlement services for a number of mixed-use and multi-family residential and institutional development projects.  Prior to joining CLC, Luke worked as a production assistant and project manager for several production companies. 

A native Angeleno, Luke is a graduate of Viewpoint School and received his B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Assistant Project Manager II

Eva joined Craig Lawson & Co., LLC in August of 2024 and has provided critical zoning and land use analysis and entitlements management services for numerous 100% affordable, mixed-income, and Permanent Supportive Housing projects.  Eva utilizes her extensive legislative research skills to ensure that the entire CLC is up-to-date on State housing and CEQA legislation to the benefit of CLC’s clients.

Prior to joining CLC, Eva was a Legislative Intern with the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) and External Vice President for UCLA’s Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC).  Eva also served as a Planning Intern for the Town of Los Altos Hills.

Eva has Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Government & Urban and Regional Studies from UCLA.