Real Estate Alert: Affordable Housing 'Metering' Legislation Introduced

Supervisor Jane Kim recently introduced legislation that would create a Special Use District (SUD) to encourage maintenance of the existing ratio of affordable housing units (roughly 30%) to market rate units (70%) within the SUD. The boundaries of the proposed SUD correspond, more or less, with Supervisor Kim’s voting district, which includes the Tenderloin, a large portion of SOMA and Treasure Island. See the map by clicking here.

The legislation would require the Planning Department to maintain an ongoing inventory of affordable and market rate units in the SUD in order ascertain the “cumulative housing balance ratio.” Projects that propose to construct at least ten market rate housing units would be required to obtain Conditional Use (CU) authorization from the Planning Commission (appealable to the Board of Supervisors) whenever the ratio of affordable housing units in the SUD falls below 30% or the Planning Department is not able to ascertain the current ratio.

Click here to read the full alert.