469 Stevenson and Why “Build Build Build” Doesn’t Work
Land Use in SOMA Pilipinas
This series of articles on land use topics and issues in SOMA and San Francisco will help to update, inform, and educate the SOMA Pilipinas community
The mantra of “build, build, build” has been pushed by many groups as a way to solve all affordability and housing issues in San Francisco. This has also been supported at the state level in efforts to deregulate the development process in San Francisco. But what is going to be built, and who is it going to serve? The reality is that expensive market-rate housing is the vast majority of what gets built in the South of Market and San Francisco, serving the population of high-earning, wealthy residents and workers. The process of developing market-rate housing also greatly serves private developers and the real estate sector that make large sums of money off of this process.
Build Build Build?
The nearly 500 unit market-rate housing development located in SOMA, 469 Stevenson, was recently approved by the Planning Commission in April 2023. Community based organizations, including SOMA Pilipinas, argued that these types of projects do not meet the needs of the community and actually increase gentrification and displacement in the South of Market. Many of the project’s supporters, however, argued that expensive projects like this need to get built so that housing prices can come down. So what is the basis of the “build, build, build” argument?
The build, build, build argument is based on the logic of supply and demand. The argument goes, “housing is so expensive because there is not enough supply of housing to meet the demand,” and therefore if you build more housing to increase the supply, the demand will go down and prices will go down. This simplistic analysis of why costs are high and how to make them lower is appealing because it is simple. Unfortunately, it has never proven to be true in San Francisco, and in reality it makes the problem worse.
From 2015-2022 San Francisco built more housing units than the state’s projected need, but at the wrong income levels, over-producing market-rate housing and under-producing affordable housing¹. This means that the city did indeed create enough total housing units to meet “demand.” And for the last 70 years, San Francisco has built nearly 1.5 units of housing for every 1 person added to the city’s population². The average household size in San Francisco is a little over 2 people. During the last 20 year period, more than 2.5 times as many market-rate units were built compared to affordable units³. So if it’s not a supply issue, then what is the issue?
Housing as a Commodity and not as a Human Right
Under capitalism, housing is treated as a commodity, meaning it can be bought, sold, and privately owned. That fact is the single largest factor in determining the price and cost of housing. The sole purpose of market-rate housing isn’t to house people, it’s to generate profit and make money. Market-rate housing is expensive and out of reach to large numbers of San Francisco residents.
Housing development and market-rate housing is also speculative, meaning people buy housing and land as investments in the hopes of making more money in the future, and don’t necessarily intend to actually use it as housing. This helps to explain why there are more than 60,000 vacant housing units in San Francisco that no one is living in⁴. The city’s own studies have also shown that building market-rate housing actually creates the need for new affordable housing (to house the people that cook, clean, and serve the new wealthy residents)⁵. The private market doesn’t provide affordability. You can’t “build, build, build” your way to affordability. So, if we live under capitalism and housing is used as a way to make money, how do you make housing affordable?
Housing Regulation and 100% Affordable Housing
The way that housing becomes or stays affordable in San Francisco is through the regulation of housing and development of 100% affordable housing, fought and won through community based organizing. Rent-control, 100% affordable housing, and other laws and policies such as Inclusionary “Below Market Rate” Housing is why there exists housing that is affordable in San Francisco. This has not been done through embracing the private market. It's been done through regulating and building outside of the private market through neighborhood and community based organizing by tenants, low-income residents, and communities of color.
This is why the 469 Stevenson project will never solve issues of housing affordability. The 469 Stevenson project will provide luxury units at very expensive rents. The project is about making money, not housing the workers, immigrants, low-income residents, families, and people of color in the South of Market. These luxury projects also lead to the direct displacement and gentrification of the neighborhood. The 469 Stevenson project’s Environmental Impact Report confirmed that this project will lead to the displacement of existing residents in this area⁶ . In order to make housing affordable, we need to focus on fighting for 100% affordable housing, regulations on the private market and protections for residents, which have proven to be effective and the only real solution to the question of housing affordability.
Please email any questions or comments using the button below or emailing david@somapilipinas.org.
Sources:
¹San Francisco Housing Inventory Report, 2022,
²San Francisco Housing Element 2022 Update Draft EIR, 2022
³San Francisco Housing Inventory Report, 2007, 2014, 2022
⁴Budget and Legislative Analyst, Residential Vacancies Update, 2022
⁵Residential Nexus Analysis City and County of San Francisco, 2007
⁶ Supplemental Analysis of 469 Stevenson Street Regarding Potential Gentrification and Displacement Impacts, 2022