"A Perfect Opportunity" - San Francisco Supervisors Unanimously Approve Call for Affordable Housing on DMV Lot
SAN FRANCISCO — On the same day the Board of Supervisors approved significantly increased affordable housing goals, the Board unanimously approved a resolution to create 100% affordable housing on the current site of the San Francisco DMV field office.
“As we adopt ambitious new targets for affordable housing, it makes perfect sense to start at publicly-owned sites like the DMV lot,” said Supervisor Preston, author of the resolution. “It’s a perfect opportunity.”
In November 2022, Preston introduced the resolution urging state officials to prioritize affordable housing on the DMV site. Following introduction, Assemblymember Phil Ting convened a meeting with Preston and representatives from state agencies, including the DMV and the Department of General Services (DGS).
The state agencies initially pointed to existing plans to demolish and rebuild the DMV field office while preserving the surface parking, which have been funded and approved. With a strong push from Ting and Preston, DMV and DGS agreed to consider housing on the site. On January 6, the DMV released a call for housing developers to consider building homes on the state-owned site. The deadline for response is February 3rd.
The state’s reconsideration of housing on the DMV site coincides with San Francisco voting to adopt a new Housing Element, a state requirement for localities to increase housing production, particularly affordable housing, to continue to receive state funding. In order to comply, San Francisco must allow for the production of 82,069 new units of housing, 46,598 of which (57%) must be affordable to low- to moderate-income San Franciscans by 2031.
With a lot size just shy of 100,000 square feet, the DMV site is one the few large-scale sites suitable for housing in the geographic center of San Francisco, and would serve as a critical site for the pursuit of geographic equity in the production of affordable housing citywide. In addition, as state-owned property, the site provides a cost-effective opportunity for large-scale affordable housing development without the upfront cost of acquiring the land.
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