San Francisco Zoning to Face Senate Bill and Hines Proposal

The California legislature could be firing up the steamroller for some of San Francisco’s zoning protections.

Lawmakers in Sacramento are considering passing Senate Bill 79, legislation that would preempt local zoning regulations around public transit stops and require cities to allow the construction of apartment buildings within a half mile of these hotspots.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, who represents San Francisco, is facing pushback for his proposal from tenant-rights and affordable-housing advocates as well as some elected leaders. Opponents claim the measure would lead to a major loss of local control over housing development, according to the San Francisco Examiner.

“[SB 79] undercuts the years-long community process to develop a citywide housing element,” San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan said in a resolution opposing the proposal, adding that Wiener’s proposal would circumvent the city’s zoning rules and lead to “land speculation, displacement and gentrification.”

While Mayor Daniel Lurie’s suggested upzoning proposal, currently under review by city lawmakers, would meet the requirements of SB 79, it would only do so in the city’s western and northern portions that are included in his “family zoning” plan. In other words, several eastern San Francisco’s neighborhoods like the Mission District, Bayview and Chinatown would be affected, despite already undergoing upzoning and seeing new housing development in recent years.

Hines goes for record

Hines is trying again to build the tallest skyscraper in San Francisco.

The Houston-based developer submitted plans to the city to build a 1,225-foot-tall office tower at the site of Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s former headquarters at 77 Beale Street. Hines first proposed building there in 2021 after acquiring the PG&E site for $800 million.

It would be about 155 feet, or approximately 15 stories, taller than Salesforce Tower if completed. Currently, Salesforce is the tallest building in San Francisco at 1,070 feet. The offices inside the Hines building would span 1.7 million square feet.

The tower would be the tallest building west of the Mississippi River, a title currently held by Los Angeles’ Wilshire Grand Center at 1,100 feet.

The construction would be “a significant, long-term investment toward the revitalization of downtown San Francisco” that “encapsulates Hines’ belief in the strength of the San Francisco real estate market in the coming years,” a spokesperson for Hines said in a statement to the San Francisco Business Times.

Disgraced Sonoma developer desperate for cash

Kenneth Mattson, the Sonoma developer who was indicted in connection with a $46 million Ponzi scheme in May, is looking to fund his legal defense using his homes.

Mattson, the former president of Citrus Heights-based LeFever Mattson, asked a federal judge to permit him to sell two residential properties in Piedmont and Del Mar as part of an effort to pay attorneys. But those homes, along with another in Del Mar, are tied up in forfeiture proceedings after he wasindicted. He was released on $4 million bail in May.

The Piedmont home at 62 Farragut Avenue was briefly listed for $9.9 million last year. The Del Mar properties include a duplex at 1834-36 Ocean Front and a home a block north at 1716 Ocean Front. The duplex is estimated to be worth upward of $11.2 million, while the 1716 Ocean Front mansion is for sale for about $24 million.

SF’s hottest housing market revealed

When it comes to high housing turnover in San Francisco, don’t look to South of Market, Pacific Heights or the Sunset District to find the city’s hotbed of sales. Instead, you’ll have to go to the outskirts of the city.

ZIP code 94132, which covers the southwestern corner of the city, is the hottest housing market in the city, according to San Francisco Business Times. The Times cited quarterly listing and sales data from Intercontinental Exchange that factors in listings-to-sales ratio, average list price, average sales price and days on the market. The ritzy ZIP saw a 25 percent jump in listing prices over the past year with an average sales price last quarter of nearly $1.6 million.

The area encompasses the Stonestown Galleria mall, San Francisco State University campus, Lake Merced Park and Parkmerced.

An increase in foot traffic at the Galleria could be a sign of the ZIP code’s attractiveness to new residents and visitors looking to get away from the hectic nature of the city’s urban core. From January through May, the Galleria saw 34 percent more foot traffic than the same period in 2019. Foot traffic at San Francisco Centre mall in the middle of the city, meanwhile, fell 68 percent from January through May.

Pristine piece of California coast for sale — no house included

An untouched 84-acre piece of land on California’s Mendocino Coast is on the market for just under $7 million.

The Albion Headlands, a patch of bluffs and hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean off Pacific Coast Highway, is one of the last undeveloped oceanfront properties on California’s North Coast.

The Headlands are being marketed as 16 residential parcels, meaning a buyer with deep enough pockets could swoop in and develop the prime property into as many housing projects. The Mendocino Land Trust, a nonprofit that has helped protect thousands of acres along the North Coast over the past 50 years, is looking to acquire the land.

If the land trust succeeds in its purchase, it wouldn’t leave the Headlands undeveloped entirely. The nonprofit hopes to build a small parking lot, an accessible bluff trail and hilltop lookouts for visitors to park their cars and watch the sunset.