Unfamiliar Terrain

In 2018, San Francisco voters passed the Early Care and Education Commercial Rents Tax (“Commercial Rents Tax”), which became effective as of January 1, 2019. The Commercial Rents Tax generally imposes a 3.5% surtax on amounts that a business receives from the lease or sublease of commercial spaces in the City, and a 1% surtax […]

The 2023 California Legislative Session, which closed on September 14, was dominated yet again by efforts to address the state’s continued housing crisis. For the last several years, we have written about many bills enacted with the goal of increasing housing production. Although these efforts have helped move the state toward its housing goals, the […]

On September 5, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors finally passed on second reading two pieces of legislation, together referred to as the “Housing Fee Reform Plan.” The Plan, previously discussed on July 7, July 21, and July 31, plays a key role in implementing Mayor Breed’s “Housing For All” Executive Directive, reducing inclusionary housing […]

On July 25, the Board of Supervisors passed on first reading the “Housing Fee Reform Plan” legislation (see previous posts here and here). The Board is expected to hold a second reading and finally pass the legislation in September after returning from summer recess. The legislation consists of two ordinances. To help jumpstart housing production […]

The “Housing Fee Reform Plan” legislation, which we reported on previously, is heading back to the Board of Supervisors next week. On Monday, July 24, the Board’s Land Use and Transportation Committee will consider the two ordinances, which cover inclusionary housing changes and impact fee reform. Committee Chair Melgar has deemed the ordinances urgent and […]

In furtherance of Mayor London Breed’s “Housing For All” Executive Order issued in February (see earlier post here) and San Francisco’s daunting directive to produce 82,000 new housing units over the next 8 years (see earlier posts here and here), at the June 27, 2023, Board of Supervisors hearing, Mayor Breed and Board President Peskin introduced two […]

At the June 13, 2023 Board of Supervisors hearing, the “Commercial to Residential Adaptive Reuse and Downtown Economic Revitalization” legislation was introduced. The legislation would amend various Planning Code sections to facilitate office to residential conversions for qualifying “Adaptive Reuse Projects.” (See earlier post here.) The Board of Supervisors will subsequently consider the companion “Development […]

In response to Mayor London Breed’s recent Executive Directive, titled “Housing For All,” on May 4, 2023, the San Francisco Planning Commission voted to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve a package of Planning and Building Code amendments intended to spur reinvestment in the City’s commercial core. (See earlier post regarding the Mayor’s Executive […]

In a decision partially published on November 30, 2022, Save Lafayette v. City of Lafayette[1], the First Appellate District Court of Appeal upheld the City of Lafayette’s approval of the Terraces of Lafayette (the “Project”), a 315-unit housing development project, 20% of which will be affordable to lower-income tenants. That opinion—now final, as the California […]

The land use entitlement process in California is notoriously complicated, lengthy, and fraught with uncertainty. Less attention is paid to the process of receiving building permits, post-entitlement. Generally, this process is more straightforward because the local agency’s review is limited to ensuring state and local building code compliance. Accordingly, the issuance of building permits is […]

In an Executive Directive dated February 7, 2023, Mayor London Breed declared that “San Francisco needs to fundamentally change how we approve and build housing.” The Directive, titled “Housing For All,” comes on the heels of the Board of Supervisors’ January 31st adoption of its updated Housing Element, addressing San Francisco’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation […]

Local landlords and owner-groups filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court last week in response to the recently-passed Proposition M, also known as the Empty Homes Tax Ordinance. We previously covered the new San Francisco legislation here. The Empty Homes Tax Ordinance imposes an Empty Homes Tax (the “Tax”), which ranges from $2,500-$20,000 per […]