{"id":44199,"date":"2025-09-26T12:37:35","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T19:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=44199"},"modified":"2025-09-26T12:37:35","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T19:37:35","slug":"measure-seeks-to-end-death-spiral-for-stalled-housing-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/09\/26\/measure-seeks-to-end-death-spiral-for-stalled-housing-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"Measure seeks to end \u2018death spiral\u2019 for stalled housing projects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/users\/profile\/Keith_Menconi\">By Keith Menconi | Examiner staff writer<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sep 25, 2025 (SFExaminer.com)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/sfexaminer.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/1\/7b\/17bda2bf-a9d6-46f2-87da-1705b7833dcf\/68d4003f78b9f.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267\" alt=\"Vacant gas station at 400 Divisadero St.\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Vacant gas station at 400 Divisadero St. in San Francisco on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/users\/profile\/Craig\">Craig Lee\/The Examiner<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A long-stalled project to redevelop a vacant gas station bordering the Haight Ashbury and Hayes Valley neighborhoods has helped inspire the latest effort to reform San Francisco\u2019s permitting process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For years, The City\u2019s housing boosters have held up the unsightly property at 400 Divisadero St. \u2014 a choice piece of real estate near the Panhandle and several public-transit lines \u2014 as a prime example of San Francisco\u2019s inability to get homes built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The project even became a flashpoint in last November\u2019s District 5 supervisorial race when a political-advocacy group supporting challenger Bilal Mahmood&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/sf\/article\/billboard-housing-san-francisco-19871338.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">paid for a billboard overlooking the gas station<\/a>&nbsp;that read \u201cThat car wash should be affordable homes. Bilal Mahmood will fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, Mahmood \u2014 who defeated former Supervisor Dean Preston in that election \u2014 has introduced legislation that he says will help fix bureaucratic road blocks holding back 400 Divisadero and many other projects in The City that have been mired in lengthy delays due to a lack of financing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/urban-development\/tariffs-la-wildfires-throw-sf-housing-rebound-into-question\/article_119355dc-ee53-11ef-b7cd-53bf0a5a212b.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">high construction and borrowing costs<\/a>&nbsp;putting a serious squeeze on San Francisco developers, projects have slowed to a snail\u2019s pace in recent years. In response, Mahmood said, his office has been&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/urban-development\/sf-looks-to-other-cities-to-boost-housing-permit-reform\/article_699c4481-cc79-491e-bf0d-bce0d4c3a892.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">meeting with builders<\/a>&nbsp;to try to answer a burning question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHow do we actually eliminate the red tape that is kicking these projects while they\u2019re down and ensuring that we continue to make more momentum?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What Mahmood has hit upon is a proposal announced earlier this month that he said&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sfgov.legistar.com\/View.ashx?M=F&amp;ID=14562976&amp;GUID=EA1936A2-B7B3-4387-B4B5-7DAD075F3255\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">attempts to reform permitting requirements<\/a>&nbsp;that only compound delays, contributing to what he terms a \u201chousing death spiral.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As things stand now, The City requires builders to use construction plans that adhere to the current building code, which sets standards for buildings\u2019 plumbing, electrical utilities, physical structures and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But given that San Francisco updates its building code every three years, that requirement can mean that as code changes pour in, stalled projects \u2014 some of them held up for years on end \u2014 might need to make costly revisions to their original proposals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"4\" height=\"3\" src=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-68.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-44200\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, pictured speaking in support of Mayor Daniel Lurie\u2019s \u201cfamily zoning plan\u201d from in front of City Hall on Sept. 11, 2025,&nbsp;has introduced legislation that he says will help fix bureaucratic road blocks holding back housing construction in The City that has been mired in lengthy delays due to a lack of financing.Craig Lee\/The Examiner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">EX \/\/ TOP STORIES<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/the-city\/sf-fillmore-investment-plan-comes-after-tenderloin-plan-cuts\/article_575509a9-6081-4d0e-b34a-bafb88f6bdda.html#tncms-source=top-stories-article\">Fillmore investment plan announced after cuts to similar effort in Tenderloin<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Mayor Daniel Lurie and Supervisor Bilal Mahmood announced the new process just months after an ongoing plan in the Tenderloin was shorted $4 million in the city budget<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/the-city\/how-tenderloin-sro-became-early-supportive-housing-pioneer\/article_d3754dbe-e4a0-4b25-a761-da9e7d9e638f.html#tncms-source=top-stories-article\">How historic Tenderloin SRO became early supportive housing pioneer<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The Cadillac Hotel was epicenter of a movement intent on securing affordable housing by preserving The City\u2019s old residential buildings<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/urban-development\/supes-consider-plan-to-rapidly-add-new-historic-landmarks\/article_e6674402-e983-4ca8-a8a4-6eacff66326b.html#tncms-source=top-stories-article\">SF poised to expand list of historic landmarks amid fears of redevelopment<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Preservationists warn that if city leaders succeed in their plans to spur new housing growth, many historic buildings could soon face demolition<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mahmood\u2019s legislation would allow projects to move forward in accordance with the building code that was in place at the time of their original applications. The change would bring San Francisco in line with standards set by the state, Mahmood said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A separate measure in the legislative package \u2014 which is expected to go before the Board of Supervisors in October \u2014 would also loosen rules that currently require projects that have already won permits but have not yet finished construction to reapply each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat will save the project time and also save staff time inside City Hall as well,\u201d Mahmood said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A little more than 71,000 homes are working their way through&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sfplanning.org\/san-francisco-housing-dashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">San Francisco\u2019s housing pipeline<\/a>, according to a data portal maintained by the Planning Department. Of those, more than 80% (57,000) have earned initial approvals but have not yet made it through The City&#8217;s full process of design and review for construction plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In its current form, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sfstandard.com\/2025\/02\/01\/touchless-car-wash-housing-plans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">redevelopment plan for 400 Divisadero<\/a>&nbsp;calls for the construction of an eight-story apartment building that would include 203 new units of housing. While the project has been in the works for about 10 years, a combination of financial setbacks and political wrangling over the plan have prevented it from moving past the early stages of development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amir Massih, who leads&nbsp;4Terra Investments, the development company behind the project, said that if passed, Mahmood\u2019s proposal would allow construction to proceed under a 2016 version of The City\u2019s building code. In turn, he said, that would reduce the construction costs by as much as 7%, or about $5 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While 4Terra Investments is still working to complete pre-construction planning for the 400 Divisadero project, Massih said such a financial boost would significantly improve the chances that the proposed apartment complex would eventually get built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe closer you can get your project to the point where you&#8217;ve removed all of the brain damage that you\u2019ve got to go through to get your project to be construction-ready, the better shot you have of being able to get financing and get investment,\u201d Massih said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Correction: This article has been updated to clarify the status of San Francisco&#8217;s building projects that have earned initial approvals but not yet begun construction.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A long-stalled project to redevelop a vacant gas station bordering the Haight Ashbury and Hayes Valley neighborhoods has helped inspire the latest effort to reform San Francisco\u2019s permitting process. For years, The City\u2019s housing boosters have held up the unsightly property at 400 Divisadero St. \u2014 a choice piece of&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/09\/26\/measure-seeks-to-end-death-spiral-for-stalled-housing-projects\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44199"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44199"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44204,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44199\/revisions\/44204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}