But sending $1B dollars to a department that doesn't do its job, is incapable of ever doing it, and actively makes things worse while defunding our schools is not ideology. Idiots https://t.co/IZocVRXJd1
How BART on the Golden Gate Bridge Died: A New History by @seungylee14@twitter.com https://seungylee14.substack.com/p/how-bart-on-the-golden-gate-bridge
What all of this is to say is that the story is utter bullshit. A more accurate take is that the whiny complaints of a naive, inexperienced, and greedy developer were repackagd by a PR flack and swallowed wholesale by a gullible columnist posing as a reporter.
HK drops the "it costs $750K/unit" to build but fails to mention that up to $200k/u in some cases, comes from the cost of land itself. in this case we're talking btwn $15.6K-$22K/unit 1/2 - 1/3 of a just approved HOME-SF project in BVHP. From her employer: https://twitter.com/sfchronicle/status/1538007226933137408?s=20&t=ACjkRb0bC1OHNl8UAEi78A
an additional 2 floors with HOME-SF gets you to 50 units and he gets to add the affordability he's so concerned about. at 50 units, project looks like a winner. after all, his family trust reportedly paid only $1.1M for the land (though its assessed at $781K) LAST JUNE.
what could he do if there were no density controls on that site? a 2900SF site is tough to begin with. and at 13 stories we're looking at >29KSF after hallways, elevators, & stairs. assuming a generous avg. of 650 sf in a building of 1's & 2's this gets you ~44 units.
how does dude popose to get to these 60 units? first he wanted to do all studios then when that flopped he decided to pivot to group housing. an accompanying CU application also indicates he wants to do an accessory hotel.
According to the story, dude wants to build 60 some units on this 2900 sf. site. the article tells us that he can build to 130 feet (tall!) but that city rules only allow 23 units. that's wrong...the project is eligible for HOME-SF, which grants extra floors & density waivers.
The story du jour is of a put upon developer who keeps running into the brick walls of SF's planning process. Sure its a dog bites man story but it is also especially relevant after HCD sent SF its strongly worded letter.
So another day another Heather Knight debunking. Before getting all agog about this story it might be worth seeing what's actually true and what we're not being told.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/bayarea/heatherknight/article/Tenderloin-affordable-housing-17371022.php
Well today I learned that prior to WWII 2/3rds of Americans thought the Nazis had a point - in a 1938 poll 54 percent of respondents agreed that European Jews were partly to blame for their own persecution & eleven percent thought them entirely to blame. https://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/america-first-lend-lease-ukraine-world-war-ii?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Many of us will fight developers for years to improve their projects and we often win after significant delays. But these delays cost time, activist energy, and money AHPA gives us the win our communities need without the delays.
The state's mandate to enable the development of more than 46K affordable units alongside another 36K 'market rate' homes is a wake up call. We know the private real estate market won't do it without a nudge. This is the nudge.
Third, AHPA will force the executive who controls all SF housing spending to create a housing plan & budget to get there. AHN lets the mayor spend $ and give away public land to cronies who promise to build the fake AH. Transparency & planning are good things we should demand.
Planner, construction industry knower, organizer, labor bureaucrat, dad & hubby to (REDACTED), bike enjoyer, HSFOB member (http://t.ly/nuT0), speaking for self