Credit: Compass Real Estate

Downtown Adaptive Reuse Program

Part of the Future of Downtown initiative

In July 2023, the City of San Francisco established a new Commercial to Residential Adaptive Reuse Program. In accordance with the Roadmap to San Francisco’s Future, the program is intended to facilitate the expansion of housing downtown by waiving certain Planning Code requirements.

Announcement: Our new Adaptive Reuse Program brochure is now available for download. Learn the benefits of the program and share it with your community!

Office to housing conversion is one potential tool to help create more housing and diversify land uses and activities downtown.

New legislation passed July 2023 aims to reduce the regulatory barriers to make it easier to convert underutilized office buildings into housing. The Commercial to Residential Adaptive Reuse Program is described on this page.

Not all buildings are suitable or economically feasible for adaptive reuse. As part of ongoing efforts to improve the feasibility of adaptive reuse projects, San Francisco voters approved Measure C on the March 2024 ballot. The City’s transfer tax is now waived on the first transfer of a property after a conversion from commercial to residential use. The exemption is limited to the first 5 million square feet of converted space, and to projects that receive Planning Department approval before January 1, 2030 and then receive a first construction document within three years.

Definition

Commercial to Residential Adaptive Reuse shall mean to change the use of an existing Gross Floor Area from a non-residential use, other than a hotel use, to a residential use pursuant to Section 210.5.

Eligibility

map of eligibility areaClick on map to enlarge.

To be eligible for the Commercial to Residential Adaptive Reuse Program a project must:

  • Located in C-3 zoning district or C-2 zoning district that is east of or fronting Franklin Street/13th Street and north of Townsend Street
    and
  • Not seek approval under Section 206.5 or 206.6. (State Density Bonus)
  • Submit a  Planning application by December 31, 2028

Planning Code Waivers

Projects which meet the eligibility criteria, could receive zoning modifications (or waivers) from some Planning Code requirements:

image of thumbs up over a stacked set of columns

The Planning Code waivers can also apply to an expansion of the building. A project may add up to 33% additional volume. The waivers could be applicable to both the existing building and the expansion.

Building Code Provisions

The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection (DBI) has outlined pertinent code provisions and possible code exceptions to facilitate adaptive reuse projects. In September 2024, DBI published the Commercial-to-Residential Adaptive Reuse Information Sheet which clarifies Building and Fire Code requirements and alternative methods of compliance for adaptive reuse projects. View the Office to Residential resource guide.

State Programs

Commercial to Residential Adaptive Reuse Program projects may be eligible for various State ministerial programs provided that all of the eligibility criteria are met. Please see the Ministerial Programs website for additional information. State ministerial program projects must be code-complying. Although Commercial to Residential Adaptive Reuse Program projects may not take advantage of State Density Program, relief from Planning Code requirements are available by use of specific Planning Code waivers included in this program. A Commercial to Residential Adaptive Reuse Program project that requests waivers as specified in this program may still be considered code-complying.