Pipeline Report 2024 Q3

Pipeline projects are at various stages of development: from applications having been filed to entitlements secured; from building permits approved and issued to projects under construction (see diagram below). The pipeline includes only those projects with a land use or building permit application. It does not include projects undergoing preliminary Planning Department project review or projections based on area plan analysis. Projects vary in size from single units to larger multi-year development programs undergoing environmental review. 

Once a project is issued a Certificate of Final Completion (CFC) by the DBI, it is taken out of the pipeline. When all or a subset of residential units in projects receive a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO), those units are moved out of pipeline (removed from the “Pipeline Units” field), but projects stay in the pipeline until they receive a CFC.

Data sources for the pipeline are chiefly the project databases maintained by the Planning Department and the Department of Building Inspection, respectively, but data is also occasionally obtained from the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure (formerly known as Redevelopment Agency).

Changes in Status Definitions

Following changes have been made in status definiens since 2022 Q1 Pipeline Report to align Quarterly Pipeline Reports with other Housing Reports (Housing Inventory and RHNA Annual Progress).

Construction: projects that are authorized for construction deemed to be in the construction stage. A project is considered to be authorized for construction if it has:

• an issued full building permit, or
• an issued site permit with an approved first construction document

Past definition: projects that had their first inspection were deemed to be in the construction stage.

Building Permit Issued: includes projects that have an issued site permit but don’t yet have their first construction document. Housing units These projects are not yet counted toward RHNA progress.

Past definition: included projects with any type of permit (site or full building permit) in the issued status.

The Relevance of the Pipeline

The pipeline serves as a barometer of medium to long-term development trends. It illustrates location and scale of current and proposed future construction taking place and where new land uses (see data dictionary) are being established; it also records demolition and a partial listing of conversion of existing land uses. In sum, the pipeline provides a short- to medium-term picture of changing land uses, tracking especially the changes to the city's housing stock and commercial uses.

Accuracy and Timeliness

The pipeline is compiled and consolidated from different data sources and is subject to errors due to varying accuracy and currency of original sources. The pipeline quarters are as follows:

• Quarter 1 (Q1): January 1 - March 31
• Quarter 2 (Q2): April 1 - June 30
• Quarter 3 (Q3): July 1 - September 30
• Quarter 4 (Q4): October 1 - December 31

The data in this report is pulled from original sources. While we try to consolidate multiple permits for different components of the same project from different agencies, it is not possible to validate the accuracy of all projects.