By THOMAS REYNOLDS
Height limits on prime blocks of Fillmore Street may be “upzoned” from 40 feet to 65 feet under plans being reviewed by the city’s Planning Department.
The change would allow buildings up to six stories on Fillmore from California north to Jackson Street.
The proposed changes would also raise the height limit from 40 to 65 feet on Broadway between Fillmore and Laguna. On portions of California and Bush streets, the height limit would be raised from 40 to 85 feet, allowing eight-story buildings.
It’s all part of an upzoning plan being developed by Mayor London Breed’s administration to meet a state mandate that 82,000 new homes be built in the city in the next six years.
Changes in state law intended to spur housing development, plus the state density bonus, could potentially raise those heights even further, if affordable housing is included.
The proposal would apply to many other areas throughout the city, including the commercial stretches of Union, Chestnut, Polk and Clement streets.
Fillmore Street was not originally included in the proposed upzoning maps, but that changed early this year, just after investor Neil Mehta bought the Clay Theater and the storefront next door. After the map was revised in early February, a nonprofit funded by Mehta bought a number of additional buildings on the 2200 block of Fillmore and pursued still others.
City planners said Fillmore had always been part of their plan.
“It was a simple oversight,” said Joshua Switzky, deputy director of citywide planning. “We had always intended (and stated) that we were proposing rezoning in the commercial corridors … For some reason, we missed Upper Fillmore on the early drafts.”
The upzoning proposal, which would make changes throughout the city, is currently working its way through the Planning Department. More information, including an interactive map of the proposal, is available on the Planning Department’s website.
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Filed under: Real Estate, Retail Report