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The development at 1515 South Van Ness, shown in 2025, became the largest\u00a0affordable housing project in 20 years in San Francisco\u2019s Mission District.\u00a0<\/p>\n
J.K. Dineen\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
Affordable housing advocates are pushing a new ballot measure in November that would earmark San Francisco\u2019s real estate transfer tax revenue for subsidized housing, setting up a likely fight with Mayor Daniel Lurie amid a difficult budget climate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Proponents of the new measure said it would dedicate all of the revenue generated by Proposition I<\/a> \u2014\u00a0 a voter-approved 2020 initiative that increased taxes on high-value real estate deals\u2014 to build and preserve affordable housing, rather than leaving the funds available for general city use.\u00a0<\/p>\n If approved, the new measure, called the Affordable Housing Guarantee Act, would come as a poison pill to a current push by Lurie and Supervisor Bilal Mahmood to roll back San Francisco\u2019s transfer tax on large real\u2011estate transactions. Lurie and Mahmood introduced a legislative package in January to\u00a0 halve the tax \u2014 currently at 5.5% for real estate sales over $10 million and 6% for transactions over $25 million \u00a0\u2014 reverting these rates to pre\u20112020 levels in an effort to jumpstart stalled housing projects.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The groups, including the San Francisco Community Land Trust, are seeking to spend\u00a0 Prop. I only on affordable housing, and their measure would keep the tax rates as they are today. The citizen-led initiative will need 12,000 valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot and requires a simple majority to pass. The deadline to qualify ballot measures is July 6.<\/p>\n Lurie\u2019s office did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the measure. However, the mayor is facing huge budget deficits for the foreseeable future, which means he will likely want maximum flexibility on how city revenue is spent.\u00a0<\/p>\n San Francisco Chronicle Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The \u201cGuarantee Act\u201d comes with a new provision meant to appease Prop. I critics: residential buildings of four or more units that are selling for the first time in the five years after completion are exempt from the transfer tax \u2014 a response to concerns about the levies discouraging new housing construction. Other groups that worked on crafting the \u201cGuarantee Act\u201d include the Council of Community Housing organizations, the Race and Equity in All Planning Coalition and the San Francisco Anti-displacement Coalition.\u00a0<\/p>\n Their measure comes as San Francisco\u2019s housing landscape is bifurcated. New construction has slowed to a trickle, while blockbuster property transactions, like the recent sale of the Transamerica Pyramid, which sold for $691.6 million last month<\/a>, continue to generate outsized tax receipts. Prop. I, which was spearheaded by former Supervisor Dean Preston, raised transfer tax rates on property sales above $10 million with the intent of funding affordable housing but it was written in such a way that it gave discretion over how to spend it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n