Three new condo developments in San Francisco will contain over 15,000 housing units. With such high numbers, the mega-projects will alleviate much of the housing pressure the city currently faces.
The three housing projects are Parkmerced by San Francisco State University, Schlage Lock in Visatacion Valley and Treasure Island. Some of the reasons why these new condo developments in San Francisco haven’t seen much progress is because of the city’s permitting process. Permitting requires various technical approvals for these projects, from its initial conception and to final construction phase. As several current building projects, such as Salesforce Tower and 815 Tennessee, continue to go through permitting, there simply is not enough planning staff to review plans and issue approvals.
The Treasure Island Mega-Project: A Rendering
The three projects in question, Parkmerced, Schlage Lock and Treasure Island are all considered mega-projects, meaning that they will transform barren parcels of land into new neighborhoods that require complete infrastructure research and development. This includes everything from new streets, sewers, power and utilities. Simply put, the city’s planning department cannot keep up with the amount of projects they need to review.
These mega-projects are classified as mixed-used, meaning they are conceptualized with retail facilities, hotels and other uses to develop a desirable and livable neighborhood. However, construction on the housing phases have yet to start. Some of these projects haven’t even broken ground yet despite public support for more housing. Fortunately, the mayor’s plan is to build and renovate 13,500 housing units between May 2017-2020. To make this happen and to speed up the permit approval process, multiple agencies including planning and public works are hiring to add more employees that will help with the workload. With that said, San Francisco is just continuing to grow and expand as a city!
Loads of great information available in this article on San Francisco Business Times. It’s accessible if you’re a subscriber, but I’ve provided a PDF of the article here.
