EMPTY OFFICE BUILDINGS FRUITFUL HOUSING FIX
Perhaps more than any group of state lawmakers before them, Gov. Gavin Newsom and members of the California Legislature are focused on new housing construction to bring down the extreme cost of shelter that leaves the Golden State with the highest poverty rate in the nation. But CalMatters reported in October that the resolve has not led to substantial progress under Newsom. It summarized that “despite some accomplishments, the housing crisis is worse now than when he took office.”
Yet it’s possible that a relatively easy path to a substantial addition in new housing units is in plain sight: converting unoccupied office space — in already-built buildings, often adjacent to transit and with existing parking — to apartments and condos. Assemblyman Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, has introduced a bill that would allow the conversion of empty office space into housing regardless of zoning and would limit local governments’ ability to block such projects in the permitting and review process.
Haney was inspired by the staggering 27 percent vacancy rate in office space in Downtown San Francisco following a shift to remote work after
COVID-19 pandemic lockdown rules took effect in March 2020. The phenomenon is common statewide, though not to the degree seen in San Francisco. The latest data from real-estate broker Cushman & Wakefield shows a 13.3 percent office vacancy rate in San Diego in the fourth quarter of 2022, continuing an upward trend from the third quarter.
Evidence suggests this is the new normal and that the pandemic has permanently changed how people work. A sharp decline in the number of remote workers — which began after the pandemic peaked in late 2020 — all but stopped last year. Surveys show no evidence that remote works hurt productivity in most fields and that a majority of affected employees say it’s helped their work-life balance. The Zippia job consulting firm said that 26 percent of U.S. employees were working remotely as of October. The fact that less commuting is much better for the environment is obviously a huge plus.
Haney’s bill has yet to draw formal opposition. Here’s hoping that remains the case — because converting empty, already-built structures into housing is an obvious solution to a vexing problem.