San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie signed legislation establishing a tax incentive district to support the conversion of vacant and underutilized downtown offices and commercial buildings into housing. The financing plan projects that approximately 50 properties could currently be suitable candidates for conversion, creating up to 4,400 apartment units.

Lurie said the new plan builds on the Heart of the City initiative introduced last fall to accelerate downtown’s comeback. “This new financing district will support office-to-residential conversions and help turn empty office buildings into thousands of new homes—helping us add more housing in San Francisco and delivering on a promise in our Heart of the City plan,” he said.

The new financing district covers core downtown office and commercial areas including the Market Street corridor from the waterfront to Civic Center, the Financial District, Union Square, and the East Cut, Rincon Hill, and Yerba Buena neighborhoods south of Market. Eligible projects within these areas may enroll to receive an annual incentive payment over 30 years to offset development costs.