Long before the pandemic threatened to alter downtown San Francisco for good, Union Square’s landlords and their leasing representatives pleaded with city officials to change zoning rules that dictated more retail use than the evolving market could realistically deliver.and other officials have apparently come around to that realization.
The plan allowed any nonretail use above the seventh floor by right, but required a conditional use authorization for office and nonretail uses seeking to locate between the second and sixth floors. That process includes a public hearing before the city’s Planning Commission. At its conclusion, the board unanimously passed legislation to amend the existing land use controls. The changes were made to “in some ways be a little more restrictive and otherwise be a bit more permissive,” said Planning DepartmentToday, only retail uses over 5,000 square feet proposed between the third and sixth floors require a CU authorization.
He noted some landlords in possession of second-floor office space downtown refuse to lease it to retail — even at great rents — because they’re concerned the city would not allow conversion back to office at the end of those tenant leases. If the city made it easier to transition between uses generally, he said, the market would be quicker to adapt for times like these.
“To the extent that we can eliminate those sorts of hurdles, while also making sure that the housing is of sound quality, that’s something that we’ve been asked to take a good long look at, and we think that’s possible,” Sider said, adding that the department is also examining how to better integrate varying uses in a building.
Blout said his team was asked to consider a residential conversion at another Union Square building that it is converting to office space: The old Roos Bros Department Store that was most recently leased by Forever 21 at 2 Stockton St. Rodriguez emphasized that with nearly 80% of the alliance’s annual budget addressing cleanliness and safety initiatives — overtime police officers, security guards, and recurring cleaning staff — the group is not in a position to offer financial incentives of its own accord.Approval of the legislative package would require hearings by the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors’ land use committee, with ultimate approval by the full board and by Breed.