Looking back at San Francisco's history we know it's possible to convert a commercial space into residential units, but what does it take? The answer: it's not that simple.
San Francisco faces a number of challenges when looking at converting empty downtown office space into much-needed housing.As San Francisco continues to have the weakest recovery from the pandemic of any major US city, 34 percent of downtown office space is now empty. At the same time, there's not enough housing in the city.
The Ritz-Carlton building on Market Street with 52 units was once the site of the San Francisco Chronicle. "The biggest thing we did with the building was to remove the old precast concrete facade and to replace them with floor-to-ceiling glass to really allow the view potential in the building to be realized," outlined Frogan."So that means we have to cut new vertical risers throughout the building," explained Frogan.Each unit must now have its own plumbing, sprinkler heads, thermostat, heating and ventilation, and lighting.
"Construction costs have probably doubled what they were and rents right now, rents have dropped so much that they're not much above from what they were in 2012," revealed Babsin.
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