San Francisco’s Skyrocketing Condo ConversionsRandy Shawbyline‚ May. 14‚ 2008San Francisco’s condo law limits conversions to 200 annually. This should mean that a maximum of 2000 rental units were converted in the past decade, right? Well, a recent report by the San Francisco Planning Department found that a whopping 4147 rental units were converted to condominiums in the past ten years. 1500 rental units have become condos in the past two years alone. The reason conversions have more than doubled the 200 limit is that the conversion of owner-occupied duplexes are not subject to the law. But these conversions steadily reduce the city’s rent-controlled housing stock, helping to explain the city’s rising rents despite a slowing economy. |