Some exciting improvements and developments at the Building Department have been published in the past few weeks including the guidelines for adaptive reuse projects converting downtown commercial offices into multi-family residential buildings and a streamlined ADU review process. See below for the direct updates from San Francisco Department of Building Inspection. Converting Downtown Commercial Offices into Multi-Family Residential Multiple agencies came together to work on final guidelines for commercial to residential adaptive re-use projects and the result is a thoughtful and comprehensive clarification of building code provisions and local equivalency processes that may present developers and design professionals options which

Last week, the San Francisco Superior Court struck down the City’s “Empty Homes Tax” which was set to be collected for the first time starting in April 2025 for the 2024 tax year. As stated in a message on the San Francisco Treasurer and Tax Collector’s website, the agency is evaluating the court’s decision and its effect on the upcoming collections and will “expect to have more information in the coming weeks.” Adopted by San Francisco voters with the passage of Measure M, during the November 2022 general election the Empty Homes Tax aimed to add residential housing stock back

In March 2023, San Francisco Board of Supervisors adopted Ordinance No. 36-23, that changed the definitions that apply to the use and minimum stays in residential hotels governed by the Hotel Conversion Ordinance under Administrative Code Chapter 41. The ordinance included a 2-year grace period, so that the new rules will not become effective until April 24, 2025. The ordinance also included an opportunity to request an extension of the grace period for up to 2 additional years if the residential hotel owner or operator can show that additional time is needed to recover reasonable investments in the hotel. The

Mayor Breed and Supervisor Dorsey recently introduced legislation to waive development impact fees and inclusionary housing requirements for downtown office-to-housing conversion projects. For the Mayor it is the latest in a series of new policies she has dubbed the “30 x 30” initiative, designed to bring at least 30,000 residents and students downtown by 2030. The city’s impact fees and inclusionary housing requirements are the largest source of city-imposed costs on conversion projects. According to some estimates they add between $70,000 to $90,000 per unit in project development cost. The legislation would waive these fees for all commercial-to-residential conversion projects

Starting in 2024, many business entities will be required to comply with the Corporate Transparency Act (the “FCTA” or the “Act”). Enacted in 2021 to enhance corporate transparency and combat tax fraud, the FCTA requires all “reporting companies” to submit Beneficial Ownership Information (“BOI”) reports to the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) by December 31, 2024. (31 U.S.C. § 5336(a)(11)(A).) I. What are reporting companies? For the purposes of the FCTA, a “reporting company” is defined as any corporation, limited liability company (“LLC”), or other similar entity that is (a) created either domestically by filing with

What is a “person” in the context of a 3 day notice to pay or quit? Is it a natural person, like an individual, or could it also include an entity? A recent case, City of Alameda v. Sheehan (2024 WL 4195486, Filed September 13, 2024), just explored this question. In City of Alameda (“City”), the City served a 3-day notice on Shelby Sheehan (“Sheehan”) who had not paid rent for 17 months pursuant to a lease with the City. Upon a successfully delivered notice to pay or quit and non-payment by the tenant within the 3-day period, the landlord

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