{"id":49212,"date":"2026-07-15T12:51:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T19:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=49212"},"modified":"2026-07-15T12:51:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T19:51:18","slug":"san-franciscos-office-to-housing-push-is-finally-taking-shape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/15\/san-franciscos-office-to-housing-push-is-finally-taking-shape\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco&#8217;s office-to-housing push is finally taking shape"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Jul 13, 2026\u00a0&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/san-francisco\/news\">News<\/a> (Axios.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.axios.com%2FkDq2XsrVt0z3-H6abcu_PbL3BR4%3D%2F52x0%2Fsmart%2F2024%2F11%2F22%2F1732313623522.jpg&amp;w=128&amp;q=75\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/authors\/nlopez\">Nadia Lopez<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/8qF8zWIsvRs3qwBX0o0FYqQ50l4=\/0x0:5196x2923\/1920x1080\/2026\/07\/13\/1783970074347.jpeg?w=3840\" alt=\"Street scene with modern high-rise office buildings, construction barriers, and pedestrians in downtown financial district, San Francisco, California, December 4, 2025. \"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The vacancy rate has yet to reach pre-pandemic levels. Photo: Smith Collection\/Gado\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>After years of promises, a meaningful wave of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/san-francisco\/2025\/06\/27\/office-to-housing-conversion-potential-sf\">office-to-housing conversions<\/a>&nbsp;is finally moving into the development pipeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why it matters:<\/strong>&nbsp;Even as AI companies help fuel an office market rebound,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sfstandard.com\/2026\/07\/06\/san-francisco-office-market-hot-stove-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">nearly a third<\/a>&nbsp;of San Francisco&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sf.gov\/data--office-vacancy-rate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">office space<\/a>&nbsp;remains vacant, making conversions a key part of downtown&#8217;s recovery and the push to build more housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Driving the news:<\/strong>&nbsp;Three projects are expected to submit applications this month, marking the strongest evidence yet that a package of zoning changes, tax incentives and streamlined approvals is unlocking conversions that developers previously said didn&#8217;t pencil out, the Chronicle&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/sf\/article\/housing-office-conversions-22340479.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>The projects, totaling roughly 300 units, include plans to convert office buildings at 901 Market St., 2300 Stockton St. and 150 Hayes St.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The big picture:<\/strong>&nbsp;Converting aging office buildings into homes has been viewed<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>as one way to address two of San Francisco&#8217;s biggest challenges post-pandemic: a persistent housing crunch and high office vacancy rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Between the lines:&nbsp;<\/strong>A few hundred<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>units is modest compared with the city&#8217;s overall housing needs, but the latest plans represent an important milestone under the city&#8217;s new conversion framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>For years, developers have argued the math rarely worked and such conversions couldn&#8217;t be profitable. Older buildings often require costly structural upgrades, while permitting, fees and taxes added more hurdles.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The city has spent roughly five years addressing those barriers by reshaping its rules and rolling out new incentives such as expedited approvals, fee reductions and a new program allowing qualifying projects to recoup part of future property tax growth to help cover construction costs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What they&#8217;re saying:&nbsp;<\/strong>Developers told the Chronicle<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>that the changes have finally made these projects financially feasible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>If developers can buy a building cheaply enough, projects like 150 Hayes can produce apartments for $500,000 to $600,000 per unit \u2014 well below the roughly $1 million per unit cost of new construction, Jack Sylvan of SDG told the Chronicle.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What we&#8217;re watching:<\/strong>&nbsp;The projects could provide a blueprint for much of downtown&#8217;s aging and unused office stock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Officials hope to create a repeatable model for converting aging, lower-rent offices in particular \u2014 the ones that often lack the amenities of newer towers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Those buildings are often cheaper to buy and may be less attractive to companies seeking space amid the return-to-office push.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jul 13, 2026\u00a0&#8211;News (Axios.com) After years of promises, a meaningful wave of&nbsp;office-to-housing conversions&nbsp;is finally moving into the development pipeline. Why it matters:&nbsp;Even as AI companies help fuel an office market rebound,&nbsp;nearly a third&nbsp;of San Francisco&nbsp;office space&nbsp;remains vacant, making conversions a key part of downtown&#8217;s recovery and the push to build&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/15\/san-franciscos-office-to-housing-push-is-finally-taking-shape\/\"> 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":[2087],"tags":[2200],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49212"}],"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=49212"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49213,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49212\/revisions\/49213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}