{"id":39688,"date":"2025-02-20T13:38:44","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T21:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=39688"},"modified":"2025-02-20T13:38:44","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T21:38:44","slug":"supes-must-change-vacancy-tax-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/02\/20\/supes-must-change-vacancy-tax-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Supes Must Change Vacancy Tax Law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by\u00a0Randy Shaw<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0February 18, 2025 (BeyondChron.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Little Saigon storefront seeks tenant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exempting Victims of Open-Air Drug Markets<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among San Francisco\u2019s laws that made sense in the pre-COVID world but not today is the commercial vacancy tax. It was passed by voters just before COVID hit the city in March 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, San Francisco was booming. Yet some owners kept retail spaces vacant to pursue above-market rents. The commercial vacancy tax sought to change this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, COVID then changed the retail game.  Retail spaces in the Tenderloin, Sixth Street. Mid-Market and other areas lost their occupants. Many can no longer attract quality tenants. The chief reason? The city\u2019s failure to close nearby open air drug markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I doubt voters would have passed a commercial vacancy tax in the current retail climate. Had such a tax gone to voters after COVID it likely would have included an exemption for retail spaces whose vacancies were largely beyond the owner\u2019s control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the law remains as enacted. This requires the Board of Supervisors to modify the vacancy tax to exempt retail spaces impacted by drug activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a cruel irony that City Hall is punishing owners for street problems that City Hall has either caused\u2014-by funding the conversion of tourist hotels to shelters<\/a>\u2014or tolerated, by allowing open air drug markets to continue for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The neighborhoods listed above should be exempted from the tax for the next three years. This will also discourage owners seeking to avoid the tax from renting spaces to businesses catering to the drug trade that harm the neighborhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Misguided Retail Strategy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vacancy tax is based on the store frontage facing a public right of way and the number of consecutive years the space has been vacant. The tax starts at $250 per linear foot of frontage and increases to $1,000 per linear foot by year three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a small storefront at 47 Sixth Street the first year tax was nearly $7000. This for a vacant space whose prior tenant sued to get out of their lease due to street repairs that deterred customers from reaching their business!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City officials know that retail spaces in the central city are hard to rent. That\u2019s why it funds programs which give free or subsidized rent to businesses to operate retail spaces. Yet these same spaces would subject owners to vacancy tax penalties had they remained vacant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I regularly work with Tenderloin owners to get spaces leased. It\u2019s extremely difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The owner of the corner commercial site pictured above replaced the prior tenant because they did not think a liquor store should be at the entry of Little Saigon.  Now he could be taxed for this community-driven move. The owner has tried to attract diverse retail uses. He even offers to fund the renovations needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he has gotten no takers. Who would choose to open a legitimate business near the longtime drug scene outside the Cova Hotel? Drug dealers dominated the 600 block of Eddy for years. Entire blocks of once thriving Little Saigon retail spaces have succumbed to the drug trade<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does that owner get for prioritizing what is best for the neighborhood? His corner site is subject to being fined under the vacancy tax!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tax Encourages Bad Businesses<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

People at last week\u2019s Tenderloin Business Coalition meeting expressed concern over the huge number of new convenience stores that seem targeted to the drug trade. These markets have sprouted throughout the Tenderloin and Sixth Street for two reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, owners cannot attract better tenants. Second, owners face fines under the vacancy tax if they don\u2019t rent their spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Supervisors need to help create a better retail environment in these areas. This requires eliminating financial incentives for landlords to rent to fill vacancies with businesses that neighborhood residents do not want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helping Owners Victimized by City Policies<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The owners of retail spaces in the Tenderloin, Sixth Street and Mid-Market neighborhoods are victims of destructive city policies. They should not be further penalized by City Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exempting Central City owners from the vacancy tax will not eliminate the challenges of attracting new businesses. But it\u2019s a small step the city can take to send a message to owners in these areas that City Hall is trying to be part of the solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randy Shaw<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Randy Shaw is the Editor of Beyond Chron and the Director of San Francisco\u2019s Tenderloin Housing Clinic, which publishes Beyond Chron. Shaw’s new book is the revised and updated, The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco. His prior books include Generation Priced Out: Who Gets to Live in the New Urban America. The Activist’s Handbook: Winning Social Change in the 21st Century, and Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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by\u00a0Randy Shaw\u00a0on\u00a0February 18, 2025 (BeyondChron.org) Little Saigon storefront seeks tenant Exempting Victims of Open-Air Drug Markets Among San Francisco\u2019s laws that made sense in the pre-COVID world but not today is the commercial vacancy tax. It was passed by voters just before COVID hit the city in March 2020. At… 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":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39688"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39688"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39690,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39688\/revisions\/39690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}