‘Big Short’ guru goes to war with California city over mass project in his backyard that could be deadly

The investor who made his name betting against the housing market is now fighting a housing project in California, arguing it could trap residents in a wildfire.

Wall Street guru Michael Burry, whose bet against subprime mortgages was dramatized in Hollywood movie ‘The Big Short,’ is suing the City of Saratoga for its approval of Masson Estates, a 25-unit development near Mountain Winery. 

Burry’s non-profit, Citizens for Responsible and Equitable Development (CRED) filed a petition in Santa Clara County Superior Court on Sept. 17, saying that the project will add roughly 70 residents to Pierce Road –– a state-designated ‘Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone.’

Burry argued that the project relies entirely on the “builder’s remedy” loophole — a rule enabling developers to bypass local zoning restrictions as long as at least 20% of the housing units are designated as affordable in a Sept. 23 Substack post.

Masson Estates would sit on a 72.45-acre wooded site at 14791 Pierce Road. Along with the single-family homes, the project will include site improvements such as roads and public utilities concentrated on the northern approximate 18-acre portion of the site, according to the project documents,

The proposed homes will range in size from 2,375 to 7,723 square feet on lots from 2,086 to 86,351 square feet. Nearly 367 of the site’s 682 protected trees, about 53%, will also be removed.

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The Planning Commission had denied the project on July 8, saying it could not find that the project’s benefits outweighed its emergency access and evacuation impacts. The developer appealed, and on August 19, the City Council granted the appeal, approved the project and certified the EIR. CRED’s project page says both votes were unanimous. 

The filed petition claims that the City Council approved the project “despite overwhelming evidence of public health and safety hazards” with “some council members indicating on the record that they were approving the project for fear of legal retribution by the state Housing and Community Development.” 

The petition further added that the council’s stated benefits including housing, a public trail, a retaining wall, cannot outweigh the documented risk to life. 

A hearing on the lawsuit is reportedly set for January 2027. 

Earlier this year in August, the Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club had also issued an electronic petition, urging the local government to reverse its project approval on similar grounds.