City Hall debates how much affordable housing to demand from developers
Two different new plans would subject development to two different new formulas San Francisco has two new plans in the works for how much affordable housing to ask from developers. However, lawmakers put off a scheduled showdown between them this week, possibly to work out a compromise. In 2016, voters granted the Board of Supervisors the power to decide how much affordable housing the city can ask for from developers. Right now it’s 12 to 20 percent of total units for buildings with 24 homes or fewer and up to 33 percent for bigger projects. (The actual number depends on whether the developer opts to create affordable units in their own building or pay a fee to build them elsewhere. The percentage for fee payment is higher.) In a report issued last week, the city’s Office of Economic Analysis observed: [Subsidies are] paid by the market-rate housing developer, which increases their cost of development. It is often argued that developers pass these costs on to land-owners ...