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San Francisco Supervisor Seems to be to Convert Empty Workplace Area Into Properties – NBC Bay Space

Downtown San Francisco has been the city’s engine of innovation and prosperity for years, but is slow to recover from the pandemic.

It has one of the highest commercial vacancy rates of any major city in America, and now a city superintendent has a new proposal to fill all those empty spaces — convert them into apartments.

“Our office buildings have a vacancy rate of over 30%, we have one of the worst downtown re-entry rates in the country,” said supervisor Ahsha Safai.

According to Safai, the downtown core accounts for 70% of the city’s gross domestic product. Unfortunately, commercial vacancy rates are likely to remain high as tech and financial companies continue to assess how much office space they really need in a post-COVID world.

At the same time, the city has another big problem.

“We have a housing crisis, we have a housing shortage. So how can we create housing much faster,” Safai said.

The regulator is calling a hearing in March to examine fast-track conversions of commercial office space to residential or mixed-use space.

It’s something some developers around town have already done. The largest such project is 100 Van Ness.

In 2011, developers began tearing down the former AAA California headquarters to strip the beams and floors, eventually converting it into 400 apartments.

According to the developer, the floors had adequate sanitation and sun exposure for residents, making the conversion relatively straightforward.

Completed in 2015, 100 Van Ness is an example of a commercial office tower being converted into residential buildings. Right next door, another refurbishment is underway at 30 Van Ness. It had been a five-story city office building.

It was sold to a developer last year and demolished, being replaced by a tower full of offices, condominiums and performing arts space.

According to the mayor’s office, the city has commissioned a study to see how many downtown towers could be candidates for a similar conversion.

This study is expected to be completed in March.

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