{"id":45596,"date":"2025-12-13T12:37:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T20:37:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=45596"},"modified":"2025-12-13T12:37:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T20:37:34","slug":"why-is-san-franciscos-pro-housing-mayor-opposing-new-housing-in-the-marina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/12\/13\/why-is-san-franciscos-pro-housing-mayor-opposing-new-housing-in-the-marina\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is San Francisco\u2019s pro-housing mayor opposing new housing in the Marina?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"\"Person by\u00a0Io Yeh Gilman<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Kelly Waldron<\/a><\/strong> December 11, 2025 (MissionLocal.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Modern
Rendering of the 25 story development proposed for the site of the Marina Safeway. Photo courtesy of Arquitectonica.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In some ways, the 25-story housing development proposed in the Marina is just what San Francisco needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As envisioned, it would create almost 800 housing units where there is now a grocery store and parking lot. Of those, 86 would be affordable \u2014 a rarity in a neighborhood that has only built 14 affordable homes<\/a> since 2005. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No businesses or tenants would be displaced, as Safeway plans to re-occupy the ground floor. Residents of the massive new development would be within walking distance of half a dozen parks and as many Muni lines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mission<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Want the latest on the Mission and San Francisco? Sign up for our free daily newsletter<\/strong> below.Sign up<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only problem: Many residents in the tony Marina neighborhood and surrounding area don\u2019t want<\/a> it there \u2014 including Mayor Daniel Lurie, himself a resident of District 2, who is opposing the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The developer \u201ctrying to sneak in a project\u201d before the city\u2019s recent upzoning<\/a> takes effect \u201cis a complete violation of the spirit of that work,\u201d Lurie said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur administration will stand up firmly to developers that game the system, and we will pull every lever we can to make this a project that works for this neighborhood and our city,\u201d a spokesperson for the mayor wrote in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dr.<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The city can build \u201cwhile protecting what makes our neighborhoods so special.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, the mayor has declined to weigh in on other Safeway housing developments. In coordination with developer Align, Safeway is proposing to transform four supermarkets (so far) into massive new complexes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The so-called \u201cbehemoth\u201d on the waterfront isn\u2019t even the tallest tower Safeway has proposed. That would be the Webster Street proposal in the Fillmore, which is slated to go up to 30 stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Back<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nor is it the only one on the waterfront. An eight-story development proposed in the Outer Richmond is one block from Ocean Beach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked why he has inveighed against the Marina Safeway proposed development while saying nothing about the Safeway proposals in the Fillmore, the Outer Richmond and Bernal Heights, the mayor\u2019s office pointed to the fact that the Marina project would not be possible after the upzoning passes, unlike the others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marina project violates \u2018spirit\u2019 of upzoning<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Lurie says developer Align is contravening the intent of the recent upzoning<\/a>. Over the past few months, Lurie has been championing his plan, which would allow for more density and height in the city\u2019s western and northern neighborhoods, to meet state mandates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"11\/24<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lurie and his ally, District 2 Supervisor Stephen Sherill, whom he recently endorsed for supervisor, say Align\u2019s proposal makes a mockery of the plan and erodes residents\u2019 trust in City Hall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sherill said he went \u201cparcel by parcel\u201d with neighborhood groups, and subsequently cut<\/a> the Marina Safeway parcel out of the upzoning plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Marina project is not being built under local laws like the upzoning plan. Instead, it uses California\u2019s \u201cdensity bonus\u201d law, which is how a site zoned for four stories by the city can end up with a 25-story building. (The other three Safeway proposals also use the state\u2019s density bonus.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Immigration<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Modern
Drawing of the U-shaped building proposed for the site of the Marina Safeway. Photo courtesy of Arquitectonica.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Those state laws were passed by elected politicians and have been around for years, said Sam Moss, the executive director of affordable developer Mission Housing. \u201cNo one\u2019s gaming the system here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Sherrill\u2019s amendment would not have stopped the project, a different change to how density is calculated in the upzoning plan would have shrunk the project to between 400 and 500 units, instead of 800. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis so-called \u2018project\u2019 at Marina Safeway is outrageous,\u201d said Sherill in an Instagram video<\/a> immediately after the proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a real development proposal. It\u2019s a publicity stunt that is exactly the kind of reckless behavior that erodes trust in our system, and I won\u2019t let it go unchallenged.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project is eligible for automatic approval, though, so if the developer wants to move forward with it as is, there is little that Lurie and Sherrill can do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sherill, who has ties to the Marina branch of YIMBY Action<\/a> and voted for Lurie\u2019s upzoning plan, is up for election in June. District 2, which he represents, tends to be conservative about land-use issues, and Sherrill is already facing an anti-development challenger, Lori Brooke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lurie has warned against housing \u2018towers\u2019 before<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

YIMBY groups see a clear case of politicians wanting housing generally, but not in their part of town. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTalking about the need for housing in general is easier than looking at a specific project and dealing with the specific people in a 10 block radius who are mad about that specific project,\u201d said Laura Foote, the Executive Director of YIMBY Action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think that it\u2019s important to remember that the Marina is a \u2018low-slung neighborhood\u2019 because mostly high-income, privileged individuals decades ago decided that we would only let tall buildings happen in the low income, Black and brown neighborhoods of San Francisco,\u201d Moss, Foote\u2019s husband, added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least two-thirds of households<\/a> in the Marina earn more than the city\u2019s area median income of around $127,000, and 56 percent earn more than $200,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Marina will not stop being awesome. I doubt that this is going to stop Marina Green from being the \u2018sluttiest mile<\/a> in San Francisco.\u2019 If anything, it\u2019s just going to add to the awesome,\u201d Moss said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salim Damerdji, a Marina resident and member of SF YIMBY, said the real problem with the Marina is that \u201cthe current character is that the Marina is too expensive for most people to live in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I learned that there was a project in my backyard, I was really excited,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lurie\u2019s support for housing was never unconditional, and YIMBYs do not universally consider him a member of their movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has warned<\/a> against \u201ctowers\u201d across the city as a way of selling his local upzoning plan, and criticized a proposal for a 50-story building<\/a> on Sloat Boulevard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI also do not want Ocean Beach turned into Miami Beach,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue is sure to animate the District 2 race in the coming months. Brooke, Sherrill\u2019s chief opponent so far, said the criticism of the Safeway project is hypocritical, given Sherrill and Lurie\u2019s support of upzoning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of surprising to hear them oppose this, considering none of those words were uttered out of their mouths when we were complaining about 14-story buildings along Lombard Street,\u201d Brooke said. \u201cAnd suddenly this project comes around, and now they\u2019re up in arms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brooke said she canvassed shoppers at the Safeway this weekend, and the reaction was \u201cpretty universal\u201d against the development, which they called a \u201ca behemoth in an area that\u2019s lower-scale and on the waterfront.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t heard of many people that have to pay a political consequence saying that this is a great project,\u201d Brooke added, \u201cbecause I think they all realize that this is poking the bear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Three<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Donate<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latest News<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"As<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As violence rose, S.F. health workers say safety proposals were ignored<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"MoAD<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

MoAD caps 20th anniversary celebration<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Tenderloin<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tenderloin Buzz: Tree lighting, microcinema, new eateries, and more<\/a><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Io Yeh Gilman<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

io@missionlocal.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

REPORTER. Io is a staff reporter covering city hall as a part of Report for America, which supports journalists in local newsrooms. She was born and raised in San Francisco and previously reported on the city while working for her high school newspaper, The Lowell. Io studied the history of science at Harvard and wrote for The Harvard Crimson.More by Io Yeh Gilman<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelly Waldron<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

kelly@missionlocal.com<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find me looking at data. I studied Geography at McGill University and worked at a remote sensing company in Montreal, analyzing methane data, before turning to journalism and earning a master’s degree from Columbia Journalism School.More by Kelly Waldron<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Io Yeh Gilman\u00a0and\u00a0Kelly Waldron December 11, 2025 (MissionLocal.org) In some ways, the 25-story housing development proposed in the Marina is just what San Francisco needs. As envisioned, it would create almost 800 housing units where there is now a grocery store and parking lot. Of those, 86 would be affordable… Continue reading → <\/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\/45596"}],"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=45596"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45597,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45596\/revisions\/45597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}