Bay Area

New State Bill Would Incentivize Converting Vacant Offices into Housing

A new bill authored by Assemblyman Matt Haney would prevent cities from stalling or killing the conversion of empty office space into housing in an effort to utilize the state’s emptying downtowns. Assembly Bill 1532 would categorize office conversion projects as “by right” developments, relaxing the permitting and review process for housing projects by preventing a city or county from requiring certain permits to convert a vacant office into housing.

Published

2 years ago

March 6, 2023

Oakland Post

In addition to preventing local governments from stalling office conversions via the permitting and review process, AB 1352 would also make office conversion projects allowed in any area of a city regardless of local zoning laws.

By Eli Walsh
Bay City News Foundation

A new bill authored by Assemblyman Matt Haney would prevent cities from stalling or killing the conversion of empty office space into housing in an effort to utilize the state’s emptying downtowns.

Assembly Bill 1532 would categorize office conversion projects as “by right” developments, relaxing the permitting and review process for housing projects by preventing a city or county from requiring certain permits to convert a vacant office into housing.

The bill is partially spurred by the hundreds of empty offices in downtown San Francisco, which has seen one of the slowest pandemic recoveries in the country among major metro areas.

According to the commercial real estate firm CBRE, some 27 percent of San Francisco’s offices were vacant at the end of 2022.

“How people work was permanently changed by the pandemic and the downtowns that relied on commuters are starting to look like ghost towns,” said Haney, D-San Francisco. “Turning empty offices into housing is one of the only paths forward to saving our downtowns.”

The bill requires that at least 10 percent of units in an office-to-housing conversion must be reserved for low- and moderate-income families.

AB 1352 would also create a grant program to partially subsidize office-to-housing conversion in an effort to further incentivize new projects.

“This bill stops the bureaucracy and will allow us to move fast to build desperately needed housing and bring life back to our downtowns,” Haney said.

State lawmakers have yet to refer AB 1352 to a committee in the Assembly. The bill will be eligible for a committee hearing as soon as March 20, its 31st day in print.

Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

###

EliWalsh/BCNFoundation1413p02/27/23

CONTACT: Nate Allbee, Haney’s office (415) 756-0561 or Nate.Allbee@asm.ca.gov

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: An image related to this story can be obtained from the following Bay City News Service web link: https://www.baycitynews.com/images/BCN-20230111-SFHOMELESSSUIT-03.JPG

/www/bcn/general/02/newsclip.23.02.27.14.15.01.1.txt

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Undoing the Past: Lawmakers Seek to Mend California Neighborhoods Sliced by Highways

Don't Miss

Newsom Rescinds COVID State of Emergency, Signaling Shift Away From Emergency Response

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of April 2 – 8, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 2 – 8, 2025

Published

1 week ago

April 4, 2025

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Oakland Post Endorses Barbara Lee

Barbara Lee will be able to unify the city around Oakland’s critical budget and financial issues, since she will walk into the mayor’s office with the support of a super majority of seven city council members — enabling her to achieve much-needed consensus on moving Oakland into a successful future.

Published

1 week ago

April 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Barbara Lee. Courtesy photo, Office of Rep. Barbara Lee.

Former Congresswoman Barbara Lee. Courtesy photo.

As we end the celebration of Women’s History Month in Oakland, we endorse Barbara Lee, a woman of demonstrated historical significance. In our opinion, she has the best chance of uniting the city and achieving our needs for affordable housing, public safety, and fiscal accountability.

As a former small business owner, Barbara Lee understands how to apply tools needed to revitalize Oakland’s downtown, uptown, and neighborhood businesses.

It is notable that many of those who fought politically on both sides of the recent recall election battles have now laid down their weapons and become brothers and sisters in support of Barbara Lee. The Oakland Post is pleased to join them.