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The San Francisco Board of Supervisors managed to squeak out the last-minute passage of the city’s housing element on Tuesday evening, avoiding the builder’s remedy loophole that would all but remove constraints on where and what kind of housing development could be built in the city.
The housing element is an eight-year plan aimed at developing 82,000 new housing units in the city. It would require rezoning the west side of the city in the Sunset and Richmond neighborhoods. The plan passed unanimously and without comment, according to The Real Deal.
The deadline for the city to finalize a plan is Jan. 31, and the element still needs a second read and formal approval before heading to the desk of Mayor London Breed for her signature.
New housing development in San Francisco has long been a struggle, often attributed to slow permitting times and rising construction costs, but there have been some signs of progress in recent weeks. A Hayes Valley apartment project gained approval to increase its unit count to 1,112 from 966 by shrinking 10K SF in retail space and eliminating plans for some three-bedroom units.
A 522-unit tower was also proposed for development in the city’s South of Market district, though this is still very much in the early planning stages.
Supervisor Dean Preston lamented the city’s approach to housing and pushed for land banking at a Land Use Committee meeting on Monday, saying that despite the city’s ambitious goals, Breed has yet to release millions in Prop I funds stemming from the 2020 voter approval of a measure doubling the transfer tax for properties over $10M, according to The Real Deal.
“We are losing deals,” he said. “We are losing sites. It is not just a disconnect, it is offensive.”
Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development Director Eric Shaw said at the meeting that the funds would be available soon but didn't provide a specific date, according to The Real Deal.
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