San Francisco Supervisor Danny Sauter has asked the City Attorney's Office to draft legislation expanding the boundaries of the city's Downtown Adaptive Reuse Program, which waives or eases code rules for turning offices into housing, the San Francisco Examiner reported.
Why it matters: SF's office vacancy rate was still 27.7% in the third quarter, according to CBRE figures cited by the Examiner. Each conversion turns empty space into homes.
A test case at 150 Hayes
Emerald Fund president Marc Babsin and SDG founder Jack Sylvan expect planning approval in the coming weeks for a 106-unit conversion of the 1968 office building at 150 Hayes St. in Civic Center. Construction would start next summer. KQED featured the two developers in a Monday episode on whether the city's empty offices can become housing.
Babsin told the Examiner the city's fee waivers, tax breaks and code changes add up to about $250,000 per unit for the project, more than $25 million in total.
What Sauter wants
The program now covers areas along Market Street and parts of downtown and the waterfront. Sauter would first extend it to match the city's new downtown financing district, which reaches into the Tenderloin, Civic Center and SoMa. He told the Examiner he would eventually like to add stretches of Van Ness Avenue.
City planners estimate the program can save developers six to 12 months, Sauter said. Other conversions in the pipeline include 136 units at 901 Market St. and about 70 units at 2300 Stockton St.