Last month Mayor Gavin Newsom issued the first veto of his administration, rejecting the Board of Supervisor’s hurried attempt to impose a demolition ordinance that would have drastically altered the landscape for future housing developments in San Francisco. Sponsored by Supervisor Daly, the demolition ordinance would have prevented any apartment building with 20 or more units from being torn down and rebuilt.
The proposed legislation centered on a project by Trinity Properties to replace an aged motel-like apartment complex with 377 units on Eighth and Market Streets with a modern residential and commercial complex comprised of 1,410 residential units. The supervisors initially voted 8-3 in favor of the ordinance. However, after ensuring greater tenant rights and lifetime leases for current tenants, Supervisor Bevan Dufty courageously voted to sustain the mayor’s veto, with the proposal only receiving 6 votes; 8 votes are necessary to override a mayoral veto (Supervisor Jake McGoldrick was absent).
Supervisor Daly and his tenant allies, however, have threatened to place the proposal on the ballot this November. In the meantime on another front, the mayor has convened a working group of 150 housing activists, developers and real estate professionals to determine what type of housing bond measure would best serve San Francisco. Declaring that he wants everyone to work together, the mayor is seeking to place a bond measure before voters this November. It could include proposals such as work-force housing, nonprofit housing and down-payment assistance programs.
Magazine
Wins Award
The San Francisco Apartment Magazine received the coveted
“Magazine of the Year” award for 2003 from
the California Apartment Association at a recent industry
get-together in Beverly Hills. SFAA Executive Director
Janan New accepted the prize on behalf of the association
and later exclaimed, “The magazine continues to
serve our membership by delivering quality content by
a group of writers and columnists and a solid editorial
team. Their in-depth knowledge of our industry translates
into a monthly production that continues to serve the
members at all levels.”
9th Annual Fisher Center Real Estate Conference May 18, 2004 Academics, real estate professionals and industry insiders will gather this spring at St. Francis Hotel for the bi-annual conference sponsored by UC Berkeley’s Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics. With economic indicators continuing to slosh about, the full-day conference will focus on the most serious elements of California’s real estate industry: outsourcing, the commercial and residential sectors, economic forecasts and the overall state of California’s market. Cost for attending is $335 - $425 (based on the date of registration). For more information or to register, call 510-643-6109 or visit haas.berkeley.edu/realestate.
Best and
Worst Of
Inc. Magazine recently published their list of “Top
25 Cities for Doing Business in America,” and
as you may have guessed, San Francisco was not included.
In fact, after analyzing 277 cities, San Francisco ended
up at the bottom, qualifying for Inc.’s “10
Worst Metro Areas.” Declaring that cities on the
list suffered “from unaffordable housing, overreliance
on single industries, and often, poor quality of life
for the middle class upon whom entrepreneurs rely,”
San Francisco took number (7) between New York (6) and
Portland, Oregon (8).
Last month more bad news came from the U.S. Labor Department, which released its employment assessment from last year, highlighting the MSAs with the worst decreases in employment. The data showed cities with the worst over-the-year employment decreases were Detroit (-48,600), Boston (-36,000), San Jose (-24,000) and San Francisco (-17,000). But hey, put a smile on that face. A report from Travel +Leisure magazine shows that tourists continue to rank San Francisco as one of their favorite places to visit. A survey conducted by the magazine shows our fair city finishing near the top in several categories. San Francisco scored well in “Activities” (second place), “Romance” (third place) and “Getting Around’ (third place), but received poor marks for “Quality of Life” (fiftieth). On the lighter side of the survey, visitors found San Franciscans “Stylish” (second place) and “Good-Looking” (third place), but our numbers dropped when “Friendliness” was considered (ninetieth) and “Pride in their City” (fortieth).
So, despite our dismal employment levels and poor business climate, we can all rest assured that, hey, we do look cool and people still like the cable cars.
March Magazine Cover Photo
The March cover photo of the McKesson Building should
have been credited to Rori Ranch Productions.