To the editor:
Thanks for writing about the demolition at 237 Sanchez Street.
I think it is important to look at what the city is getting by granting this CUA.
Yes, per the staff report, there will be two units of rent-controlled housing replacing the single-family house and the unauthorized second unit.
But these two units are basically one bedroom with some extra space without proper egress for a second bedroom, with one unit in the basement and one unit on the ground level.
Looking at the web ads the two existing units being “replaced” in this demolition looked quite nice and livable.
On the other hand, the other three units will be market-rate (de-controlled?) on the upper three floors with multiple bedrooms including one four-bedroom unit.
These three new units will be probably be very pricey, in a city with a ton of high-end market rate housing units already built and in the pipeline.
There should also be real concern about another Demolition on Thursday’s Planning Commission Agenda of a pair of San Francisco Edwardian Flats, that also has a UDU at 28-30 Day Street. Previous tenants took buyouts for all three dwellings after the building was purchased in 2022.
The new building will have three units total, two of which are a bit larger than the existing units with one very large two-level unit in a very glitzy-looking building.
I think the city needs to think seriously about this project-by-project attrition of existing sound housing with approving demolitions like these and what is actually being gained to “solve the housing crisis.”
Georgia Schuttish
