S.F. rent-controlled apartments lost as fast as new ones are built

Roberto Hernandez, community leader and activist, explains why an ordinance calling for a temporary moratorium on construction of market-rate housing in the Mission in necessary on Tuesday, May 5, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif. less Roberto Hernandez, community leader and activist, explains why an ordinance calling for a temporary moratorium on construction of market-rate housing in the Mission in necessary on Tuesday, May 5, 2015 in San ... more Photo: Amy Osborne, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Amy Osborne, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 33 Caption Close S.F. rent-controlled apartments lost as fast as new ones are built 1 / 33 Back to Gallery

San Francisco is losing rent-controlled apartments almost as fast as it is producing new affordable units, and even faster in neighborhoods like the Sunset and the Mission, where few low-income developments are being built, according to a new city study.

The Housing Balance Report shows the city added 6,559 affordable housing units between 2004 and 2014. But during the same period, 5,470 apartments were “removed from protected status” through a variety of “no fault” evictions allowed by state law.

Planning officials already are looking at ways to deal with the problem, at least in one part of the city.

On Thursday, the City Planning Commission moved toward imposing interim controls calling for a six-month delay in permits for new market-rate housing, office and retail development in the Mission District.

The controls would halt permits for new market-rate developments of five units or more not on file by Dec. 31, 2014. The intent is to provide the city time to put together “a cohesive strategy to provide more affordable housing and economic stability,” according to a staff report on the proposal, which is expected back before the commission for approval in August.

“I believe this is the time to do this and get it right,” said City Planning Director John Rahaim.

Running in place

The concerns about the lack of low- and middle-income housing in the Mission are echoed throughout the city. The housing report prepared for the Board of Supervisors suggests San Francisco is essentially running in place on affordable housing in what has become the most expensive housing market in the United States.

“The loss of rent-controlled units is having a much larger impact than I would have thought,” said Supervisor Jane Kim. “It shows that our anti-eviction work is every bit as important as our work supporting new housing.”

The report comes at a time when the housing-obsessed city seems focused on the topic like never before. At least five measures related to affordable housing are headed to the ballot this fall, including a $310 million housing bond, a moratorium on new market-rate housing in the Mission District, and a measure that would give affordable housing builders first dibs on surplus public land.

The housing balance study shows how geographically uneven the production of housing is in the city. In District Four, which includes the Sunset, just 15 affordable units were built in the decade ending in 2014, while 388 formerly rent-controlled units were converted to market-rate homes. District Two, which includes the Marina and Pacific Heights, saw 37 affordable units built and lost 491 rent-controlled units. By contrast, in District Six, which includes high-rise neighborhoods like Rincon Hill, builders developed 3,307 units of new affordable housing and 9,632 market-rate units, while 641 units were removed from protected status.

Unevenly distributed

Over that same decade, District Nine, which includes the Mission and Bernal Heights, has seen construction of 908 market-rate units and 279 affordable units, while 688 rent-controlled units have been eliminated.

Supervisor Scott Wiener said the city’s investment in affordable housing should be more evenly distributed throughout the city.

“I’m supportive of acquiring sites in the Mission and helping the Mission, but that can’t be at the exclusion of providing resources for other communities as well,” Wiener said.

The supervisor also said he doesn’t support placing a moratorium on housing in any neighborhood.

Neighborhoods push

“Putting more and more obstacles in the way of creating housing is exactly the kind of thinking that got us into this mess in this first place,” said Wiener, who voted against a proposed moratorium on market-rate housing construction in the Mission when it came before the board last month.

The push for more housing is even extending to the Sunset, which is dominated by single-family homes. Supervisor Katy Tang, who represents the neighborhood, has called for increased density along the neighborhood’s main transit streets of Taraval, Noriega, Judah and Irving. A thousand units could be added without changing the existing 40-foot height limits, she said.

“It’s a drop in the bucket when you look at the grand scheme of things,” she said, “but we have a responsibility to do what we can to help solve the housing challenge.”

The interim controls in the Mission are designed to give city officials time “to analyze affordable housing needs, assess sites for affordable housing production and stem the loss of existing income-protected units.”

The controls would put the brakes on a number of proposed developments in the Mission. It would not, however, affect the neighborhood’s two largest developments — a 331-unit apartment complex proposed for 16th and Mission and a 274-unit project planned for 2000 Bryant St., although it’s hard to see the City Planning Commission approving any major project while the controls are in place.

‘Off the deep end’

At Thursday’s hearing, Commissioner Kathrin Moore called the proposed controls “an emergency response,” adding that “the only question is whether it’s too late.”

San Francisco’s current housing market — where condos are fetching $1,200 a square foot and modest one-bedroom apartments lease for $3,500, “has gone off the deep end in terms of its irrationality,” said Commissioner Dennis Richards.

The interim controls, which are much narrower than the proposed moratorium aimed at the November ballot, were criticized by developers and land-use attorneys, who said it would unfairly change the rules for builders who have invested millions of dollars in land based on the current Eastern Neighborhood zoning, which was passed in 2008.

Moratorium debate

Commissioner Michael Antonini, who was the only “no” vote on the controls, said the mini-moratorium is short-sighted.

The interim controls are not going to make the neighborhood any less popular with the thousands of technology workers who continue to arrive in San Francisco by the planeload, he added.

“Cutting down the production of market-rate housing is not going to cut demand,” Antonini said.

But Commissioner Cindy Wu said the six-month pause would give the commission a chance to create “better rules of equitable development.”

“Maybe the (Eastern Neighborhood plan) was fair and maybe it wasn’t, but those policies are really failing us now,” she said.

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen