San Francisco, CA - Mayor London N. Breed joined State Senator Scott Wiener, City Officials, affordable housing developers, and pro-housing advocates today to announce that the City and County of San Francisco has received a Prohousing Designation from the State of California for the City’s efforts to build more housing, faster.
To earn the Prohousing Designation, cities and counties must demonstrate they are promoting climate-smart housing by enacting prohousing policies, including but not limited to streamlining multifamily housing developments, up-zoning in places near jobs and transit to reduce emissions, and the creation of more affordable homes in places that historically or currently exclude households earning lower incomes and households of color.
This marks a significant turnaround for San Francisco, which was placed under state review for its housing policies, stemming in part from the Board of Supervisors’ rejection of a large housing development at 469 Stevenson and other obstruction of housing projects. Mayor Breed and City staff worked closely with the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to reform City policies and decision-making to not only comply with this state Policy and Practice Review, but also to achieve this Prohousing Designation and make progress towards the City's ambitious housing goals.
"We are proud that the State has recognized San Francisco as a Prohousing city," said Mayor London Breed. "This has taken a lot of work locally to change our laws and get to yes on housing, as well as a strong partnership with our state leaders to deliver on key reforms. Working together, we are showing how San Francisco can be a leader on building new housing and be a more affordable city for all."
“This important milestone would have seemed unimaginable before Mayor Breed took office,” said State Senator Scott Wiener. “San Francisco was the poster child for illegal obstruction on housing when she and I were elected. Since then, Mayor Breed has been an invaluable partner to me in reforming our broken housing system — last year finally bringing the City into compliance with state housing law. It took real vision and years of hard work to get here, and I’m extremely grateful to Mayor Breed for working with the state to achieve this critical designation.”
The Prohousing Designation Program (PDP) administered by HCD recognizes cities and counties that demonstrate a commitment to enacting proactive policy changes and providing incentives and support to break down barriers to housing development. By earning the Prohousing Designation, communities receive exclusive access to Prohousing Incentive Program (PIP) grants and additional points in the scoring of competitive housing, community development, and infrastructure funding programs administered by HCD.
“The City and County has made significant progress in accelerating housing development and removing obstacles that delay approval,” said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez. “San Francisco has shown that it is serious about structural change, and I trust that—in collaboration with HCD—San Francisco will continue to take the steps necessary to produce and preserve housing for individuals and families at all income levels.”
“The housing shortage is our City's most pressing issue,” said Supervisor Myrna Melgar. “The lack of affordable housing options presents a fundamental challenge to everything we are trying to achieve - for business, education, sustainability, for dignity and success for the next generation of San Franciscans. Getting the State Prohousing Designation will open doors to more funding and solidify our partnership with the state in our common pursuit of achieving our housing goals.”
In its application, San Francisco highlighted a number of housing-related programs that align with efficient land use and pro-housing policies, including;
- Priority permitting processing for 100% affordable projects, local density bonus projects, and projects with increased affordability;
- Eliminating parking requirements for residential development;
- Establishing the Central SoMa Housing Sustainability District that allows for streamlined approval to qualifying projects, including mixed-use and multifamily housing;
- Adopting the Constraints Reduction Ordinance to streamline housing entitlements and eliminating hearings for housing projects;
- Establishing a one-stop shop Permit Center where building permits are coordinated across various city departments;
- Establishing benchmarks for reducing post-entitlement permitting timelines across all involved departments in order to accelerate housing construction; and
- Utilizing local funding to preserve affordable units at risk of conversion to market rate uses, in particular through the Small Sites Program.
“The Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC) is the largest affordable housing developer rooted in San Francisco,” said Katie Lamont, Interim Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer, Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation. “We are pleased that the State has recognized the City’s Pro Housing efforts. Upzoning, streamlining public approval processes, and dedicating funding expedite affordable housing development and expand access to opportunity throughout the City, facilitating new housing like TNDC and CCDC’s 730 Stanyan.”
"San Francisco cannot reach our rightly ambitious affordable housing goals on our own,” said Malcolm Yeung, Executive Director, Chinatown Community Development Center. “I’m grateful that Mayor Breed and her affordable housing team has understood this from day one. Under her leadership, San Francisco has invested deeply in building bridges between HCD and San Francisco to unlock the critical resources we need. This Prohousing Designation is another step forward in cementing that relationship. Go San Francisco!”
“Mercy Housing California applauds the State’s recognition of San Francisco as Prohousing,” said Ramie Dare, Director of Real Estate Development, Mercy Housing California. “With this Prohousing Designation, Mercy Housing California will be able to access more state funding to create more affordable housing for low-income families, seniors and people with special needs.”
“San Francisco’s Prohousing Designation speaks to the City’s commitment to addressing the housing crisis while also unlocking additional tools and critical funding for affordable housing in an increasingly competitive financing environment,” said Anne Silverberg, Chief Executive Officer, Related California Northern California Affordable and Northwest Divisions.
“Mission Housing extends its gratitude to the leadership of Mayor London Breed and allies like Supervisor Myrna Melgar plus the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development. San Francisco is finally being recognized for the leader it is as we continue combatting the Bay Area’s housing crisis,” said Sam Moss, Executive Director, Mission Housing.
“San Francisco has a reputation for being the most difficult and expensive places to build housing, not only in California but in the entire country,” said Jane Natoli, San Francisco Organizing Director, YIMBY Action. “But since she took office, Mayor Breed has been a housing champion and proud YIMBY, and she’s worked hard to create a new housing plan for the city that will actually ensure we build the homes we need. Now, San Francisco is receiving the state’s coveted Prohousing Designation, which will give us the opportunity to receive additional funding to build affordable housing. Thank you, Mayor Breed, for your leadership!”
“Thanks to Mayor Breed’s leadership crafting and championing a truly transformative Housing Element, San Francisco — once seen as an anti-housing city — has now received the state’s Prohousing Designation. This will open up funding for affordable housing that our city badly needs,” said Corey Smith, Executive Director, Housing Action Coalition. “We are proud that San Francisco has achieved this milestone and are looking forward to seeing the city put this designation to good use.”
Removing barriers to new housing construction and increasing housing affordable to lower-income residents is a key priority in the City’s Housing Element. In addition, Mayor Breed issued a 2023 Housing for All Executive Directive to set out the steps the City will take to meet the bold goal of allowing for 82,000 new homes to be built over the next eight years, including passing many reforms that have been instrumental in achieving the Prohousing Designation.
Today’s announcement emphasizes the importance of regional and state collaboration in order to reach our housing and climate goals.
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