Repurposing Parking for Affordable Housing San Francisco’s Innovative Approach

Post originally Published May 9, 2024 || Last Updated May 10, 2024

See how everyone can now afford to fly Business Class and book 5 Star Hotels with Mighty Travels Premium! Get started for free.


Repurposing Parking for Affordable Housing San Francisco's Innovative Approach - Reshaping San Francisco - Transforming Parking Lots into Affordable Housing


In a bold move to address the city's housing crisis, San Francisco is repurposing underutilized parking lots into affordable housing units.

A notable example is the transformation of a former Nordstrom valet parking lot into 131 affordable apartments, demonstrating the potential to create more housing by eliminating excessive parking.

Additionally, the city has approved over 3,000 new homes, including more than 2,600 affordable units, under legislation promoting housing development on parking lots.

These innovative approaches showcase San Francisco's commitment to tackling the housing shortage through creative solutions.

The city's innovative approach has enabled the transformation of a former Nordstrom valet parking lot into 131 affordable apartments, demonstrating that eliminating parking can create more space for housing and reduce construction costs.

Over 3,000 new homes, including more than 2,600 affordable units, have been approved under San Francisco's legislation that promotes housing development on parking lots, highlighting the city's commitment to address the housing shortage.

A partnership between BRIDGE Housing Corporation and the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development received a substantial grant of $457 million to convert parking lots into 159 affordable homes, showcasing the significant investment in this initiative.

The recent certification of San Francisco's Housing Element policy is expected to shape the future of housing in the city, as it aims to address the shortage of affordable housing through innovative methods.

A former parking lot near a transit station in San Francisco has been transformed into a 100% affordable apartment development, providing 131 new homes for low-income families and 39 for public housing residents.

The city has also repurposed a California Department of Motor Vehicles office into a development with hundreds of affordable housing units, demonstrating its commitment to utilizing underutilized spaces for affordable housing.

What else is in this post?

  1. Repurposing Parking for Affordable Housing San Francisco's Innovative Approach - Reshaping San Francisco - Transforming Parking Lots into Affordable Housing
  2. Repurposing Parking for Affordable Housing San Francisco's Innovative Approach - Innovative Land-Use Strategies - Optimizing Urban Spaces for Residential Development
  3. Repurposing Parking for Affordable Housing San Francisco's Innovative Approach - Revitalizing Communities - San Francisco's Approach to Creating Transit-Oriented Neighborhoods
  4. Repurposing Parking for Affordable Housing San Francisco's Innovative Approach - Addressing Housing Shortages - Repurposing Underutilized Parcels for Affordable Living
  5. Repurposing Parking for Affordable Housing San Francisco's Innovative Approach - Collaborative Efforts - Partnering with Non-Profits and Community Organizations

Repurposing Parking for Affordable Housing San Francisco's Innovative Approach - Innovative Land-Use Strategies - Optimizing Urban Spaces for Residential Development


Cities and local governments are increasingly employing innovative land-use strategies to address housing affordability and access to opportunity.

Smart zoning reforms and eased building restrictions help unleash housing supply, ensuring that current and future residents have access to quality housing.

Innovative approaches like creating community land trusts and utilizing private funds for affordable housing demonstrate successful implementations that prioritize compact and efficient land use to reduce urban sprawl and preserve green spaces.

The PRO Neighborhood competition has provided three-year grants since 2013 to collaborating groups of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to enhance opportunities for affordable housing and revitalize distressed neighborhoods.

Fifteen mayors in the greater Boston region have signed a plan to ramp up housing construction, including a set of strategies to increase housing supply, demonstrating regional cooperation in addressing affordability issues.

A recent study from the Urban Institute found that nationwide policies to relax land-use restrictions increased housing supply by an average of 8% in the medium term (3-9 years), highlighting the impact of smart zoning reforms.

A GIS-based multicriteria decision-making (GISMCDM) approach has been presented to optimize the location of new climate-resilient affordable housing developments, integrating sustainability, resilience, and environmental justice principles.

Cities and local governments are increasingly employing innovative land-use strategies, such as creating community land trusts and aiding manufactured housing residents in purchasing their land, to address housing affordability and access to opportunity.

Multi-criteria decision-making approaches, like the GIS-based model, optimize residential land-use allocation by factoring in social, economic, and environmental benefits, demonstrating a holistic approach to urban planning.

Repurposing Parking for Affordable Housing San Francisco's Innovative Approach - Revitalizing Communities - San Francisco's Approach to Creating Transit-Oriented Neighborhoods


Repurposing Parking for Affordable Housing San Francisco’s Innovative Approach

San Francisco is taking bold steps to create transit-oriented neighborhoods and revitalize its downtown area.

The city is replacing an aging bus yard with a modernized facility and hundreds of new affordable homes, aligning with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission's Transit Oriented Communities Policy aimed at addressing climate change, affordability, and inequities.

Additionally, San Francisco has secured significant state funding to support affordable housing and transit improvements as part of its downtown revitalization efforts.

The Potrero Yard Modernization Project in San Francisco aims to construct a state-of-the-art bus storage facility alongside 575 affordable rental units, demonstrating the city's commitment to integrating public transit and affordable housing.

San Francisco has secured over $163 million in state funding to support affordable housing and transit improvements, showcasing the significant investment in these revitalization efforts.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission's Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) Policy in the Bay Area specifically aims to address the crises of climate change, affordability, and socioeconomic disparities through integrated land-use and transportation planning.

The city's downtown revitalization plan, the Roadmap to Downtown San Francisco's Future, includes measures such as a three-year tax break of up to $1 million for new businesses, indicating its efforts to incentivize economic growth.

San Francisco is working to ensure downtown is clean, safe, and inviting through strategic investments to increase public safety and improve street conditions, demonstrating a focus on enhancing the urban environment.

San Francisco's innovative approach has enabled the transformation of a former Nordstrom valet parking lot into 131 affordable apartments, highlighting the potential to create more housing by repurposing underutilized spaces.

The recent certification of San Francisco's Housing Element policy is expected to shape the future of housing in the city, as it aims to address the shortage of affordable housing through innovative methods, suggesting a comprehensive strategy.

Repurposing Parking for Affordable Housing San Francisco's Innovative Approach - Addressing Housing Shortages - Repurposing Underutilized Parcels for Affordable Living


Cities and local governments are increasingly turning to innovative solutions to address housing shortages, such as repurposing underutilized spaces like vacant malls, offices, and parking lots into affordable housing.

This approach has proven to be 15-25% cheaper and faster than new construction, making it a viable option for increasing the supply of affordable homes.

While there are challenges in implementing these conversions, cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles are leading the way in updating their policies and processes to facilitate the transformation of underutilized properties into affordable living spaces.

Adaptive reuse conversions in San Francisco are expected to increase by 53,000 by the end of 2022, making affordable housing 15-25% cheaper than new construction.

Cities like Los Angeles are updating their adaptive reuse ordinances to simplify the review process and increase the number of eligible buildings for commercial-to-residential conversions.

The conversion of unused office spaces and underutilized buildings to affordable housing is estimated to be 15% to 25% cheaper and faster than new construction.

In San Francisco, there is a trend of converting offices into housing to maintain or increase property values in light of high housing demand and declining office building valuations.

Adaptive reuse of empty buildings, including offices, malls, schools, and dorms, has seen an increase in recent years, with an expected 53,000 conversions by the end of

Cities like Honolulu and Redlands, California, have successfully repurposed underutilized spaces into affordable housing.

Federal agencies are taking action to convert commercial properties into affordable, energy-efficient housing near transit and jobs.

A partnership between BRIDGE Housing Corporation and the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development in San Francisco received a substantial grant of $457 million to convert parking lots into 159 affordable homes.

The recent certification of San Francisco's Housing Element policy is expected to shape the future of housing in the city, as it aims to address the shortage of affordable housing through innovative methods.

Repurposing Parking for Affordable Housing San Francisco's Innovative Approach - Collaborative Efforts - Partnering with Non-Profits and Community Organizations


Repurposing Parking for Affordable Housing San Francisco’s Innovative Approach

Nonprofit organizations and community partners are playing a crucial role in addressing the affordable housing crisis in San Francisco.

The San Francisco Foundation's initiatives, such as the Partnership for the Bay's Future and the Equity Agenda, demonstrate the importance of regional collaboration between funders, nonprofits, and public sector partners in developing community-based solutions.

This collaborative approach has enabled nonprofit developers to preserve and produce affordable housing, addressing the city's housing shortage.

The 1064 Mission Street development, San Francisco's largest permanent supportive housing project, was made possible through a collaborative effort between government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and community partners, providing 256 studio apartments for adults exiting homelessness.

The San Francisco Foundation's Partnership for the Bay's Future has created a Family of Loans Fund that has brought more than $500 million in capital to support affordable housing, funding nearly 4,000 homes to date.

Nonprofit developers have been able to preserve and produce affordable housing in San Francisco by accessing the $348 million in loans from the San Francisco Foundation's Family of Loans Fund.

The San Francisco Foundation's "All In On Housing" program is a regional collaboration between funders, nonprofits, and public sector partners to develop community-based solutions for housing, transportation, and climate challenges.

Successful collaborations, such as those seen in Chicago's rehabbing of residential properties and Washington D.C.'s community land trust, require coordination and collective action among various stakeholders.

The Equity Agenda, an initiative by the San Francisco Foundation, brings together community leaders, nonprofits, and donors to advance racial equity and economic inclusion in the Bay Area.

The San Francisco Foundation's Partnership for the Bay's Future has leveraged over $500 million in capital to support affordable housing, demonstrating the power of collaborative efforts in addressing the housing crisis.

Nonprofit organizations and community partners are working closely with government agencies in San Francisco to develop innovative strategies, such as community land trusts, to preserve affordable housing.

The collaborative efforts between the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development and BRIDGE Housing Corporation in San Francisco have resulted in a substantial $457 million grant to convert parking lots into 159 affordable homes.

The recent certification of San Francisco's Housing Element policy, which aims to address the shortage of affordable housing through innovative methods, is a testament to the city's commitment to collaborative problem-solving.

See how everyone can now afford to fly Business Class and book 5 Star Hotels with Mighty Travels Premium! Get started for free.