Developments in Development: Time Lapse

A good chunk of the discussion about housing affordability comes down to how long a tenant has been in a building constructed before 1979  – 30 days to secure tenants rights and the longer you’ve been in one place, the cheaper your rent is likely to be.

But there is also the market. For a long while I’ve been under the impression that one of the few exceptions to the what-goes-up-must-come-down rule might be the housing market, but here we are, reading headlines like “SF Rents down more than any other U.S. city” from SFGate.

Curbed has a bit more sober take on what looks like it might be the same data and more, with the slightly mixed message that rents are slouching off but, surprise, it’s still stupidly expensive. SocketSite says average asking rents are down about 8 percent from their peak, and 5.6 percent from last year. And hey, at least we’re more affordable than New York, Miami and LA. Baby steps, guys.

Of course, if you have a few gazillion dollars lying around and affordability is not necessarily your concern, or if you just need a good guffaw at how much a parody of itself Silicon Valley has become, might I direct you toward this virtual reality (yes, complete with VR goggles) tour of unfinished penthouses that go for, oh you know, just $11 million or so.

Here’s an interesting case in the build-baby-build vs. anti-gentrification strife in the Mission: This proposal to turn four townhomes and a parking garage into four slightly larger homes was slated to go to the Planning Commission this week, but delayed (not for the first time). Planning staff have recommended disapproval for the site, in part because in the four existing units there are two rent controlled units that would be destroyed, so the proposal theoretically does not actually result in a net increase in housing units. At least one neighbor has written to the commission asking them to deny the application out of displacement fears (he also asked them not to delay it again, but there you have it).

It can be hard to predict what developers will do with a space when housing doesn’t seem to be in the cards. Developers who were thwarted in their original plans to build 24 units housing to replace an automotive shop on 16th and Albion streets first downsized their plans, but are now abandoning the housing idea altogether. The new plan: a giant restaurant and events space.

On the other end of the Mission (really more Bernal Heights I suppose), the Graywood Hotel, hit by a major fire last June, is gutted and up for sale – read all the details of what that means for tenants and beloved watering hole 3300 Club here. In keeping with the time theme, at this site, it’s all about timing for the residential tenants, who are anxiously awaiting the repair of their units to exercise their right to return.

SROs are a topic of much discussion lately at the local legislative level, where supervisors just recently passed an update to a pretty old law governing SRO conversions. The update places tighter restrictions on the ability to rent out SRO rooms for shorter stretches (less than 30 days generally means the SRO tenant doesn’t get tenant rights protections, and usually indicates rentals to tourists rather than the very-low-income tenants who usually occupy them). And according to Curbed, one SRO owner in the Mission pled with the District 9 supervisor not to approve the new legislation because he would no longer be able to work with the Homeless Prenatal Program. The supes, however, voted unanimously in support.