Mayor Lee and Supervisor Campos Introduce Legislation Allowing Development Funds to Benefit Local Neighborhoods

Legislation will allow development fees to stay in local neighborhoods and benefit those most vulnerable to eviction

WASHINGTON, D.C. – (RealEstateRama) — Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced legislation co-sponsored with Supervisor David Campos that will allow fees from residential developments of 25 units or less to remain in the neighborhood where the new development is built. The fees will be allocated to purchase buildings where long-term tenants are at risk of being evicted due to market pressures and then make those units permanently affordable housing.

Currently, developers must meet its Inclusionary Affordable Housing requirement with a payment into the Affordable Housing Fund or by providing units onsite. With this new legislation, developers can now decide to designate those fees into the general Affordable Housing Fund, or choose to put the money back into the local neighborhood through the City’s Small Sites Acquisition Program. This new option can directly fund the purchasing and stabilization of apartments with long-term tenants at risk of displacement in the neighborhood where the new development is being built.

“The long-term tenants in the neighborhoods that are seeing the most development are the same ones we need to protect,” said Mayor Ed Lee. “By allowing developers to invest the money back into the very neighborhoods they are building in allows us to ensure long-terms residents can continue to live where they have community and raise their families.”
Since being launched in April 2014, the Small Sites Acquisition Fund has stabilized 68 units of existing housing, typically with long-term residents at risk of displacement. It is a zero displacement program, and no residents, regardless of income, will be displaced due to the building’s participation in the Small Sites Program. Small Sites Program buildings will carry long-term affordability restrictions, increasing the City’s supply of affordable housing and ensuring that rental units are affordable for future generations of San Francisco residents.
“Working with the Mayor’s Office of Housing, the District 9 office has fought and won almost 1,000 units of affordable housing. This legislation will allow even more affordable housing to be created in record speed. If the next generation of San Franciscans is going to be able to live here, we need to make sure that development benefits stay in the neighborhood where the development is being constructed,” said Supervisor David Campos.

The Small Sites Program is funded through a combination of Housing Trust Fund revenues, Prop A Housing Bond, and affordable housing fees paid by housing developers in San Francisco. Program funding may be used to support a variety of housing development activities, including property acquisition and minor rehabilitation.

Tenant protection is a cornerstone of Mayor Lee’s seven point housing plan. Mayor Lee worked with State Senator Mark Leno twice on state legislation that closed a loophole in the State Ellis Act that allows speculators to buy rent-controlled buildings in San Francisco and immediately evict long-term tenants. Both efforts failed in the state legislature. Mayor Lee and Board President David Chiu launched the Ellis Act Housing Preference Program (EAHP) for tenants who are evicted under the State Ellis Act. Displaced tenants are now given preference for the City’s affordable housing programs.