Senate committee advances Haney’s office-to-housing conversion bill amid safety and local-control questions

AB 507, the Office to Housing Conversion Act authored by Assemblymember Haney, was advanced by the Senate Committee on Local Government. The bill would create a ministerial pathway for adaptive reuse conversions of qualifying office buildings in infill and downtown areas, with the stated goals of reviving underutilized downtowns and preserving historic cores while creating housing near transit.

Supporters described adaptive reuse as a cost-effective, climate-friendly approach that can increase downtown housing and boost foot traffic for small businesses. "These places are exactly where we want more people to be living if we're serious about meeting our state's climate goals," Mark Flicksovich, director of state policy at Streets for All, told the committee.

The bill includes labor provisions and other edits the author said were added following last year’s negotiations with labor and the governor’s office. The author noted the earlier version reached the governor's desk but was not signed; he said amendments in the current version are intended to address prior labor concerns.

Opponents, including the League of California Cities and several charter cities, urged caution. They argued a statewide by-right ministerial standard could be a one-size-fits-all approach that does not reflect the varied commercial and seismic realities across California. "We are concerned that it sets up a standard that's one size fits all for that," Brady Garrett representing the League said.

Committee members questioned safety and code issues for conversions. One senator noted that converting office buildings to residential use can require extensive structural, plumbing and exiting upgrades — and said for some buildings it may be cheaper to tear down and rebuild as housing. The author and supporters replied that existing building standards and health-and-safety codes would still apply and that ministerial streamlining is meant to simplify approval steps, not remove building-safety requirements.

The committee approved AB 507 as amended and sent it to the Committee on Housing; the committee vote was recorded as 5-2.

Key points

- Purpose: Create a ministerial approval pathway for qualifying office-to-residential conversions in infill/downtown areas to accelerate adaptive reuse and downtown recovery. - Safeguards: The bill retains application of state and local building codes and adds labor protections in response to stakeholder concerns. Local governments would still apply health and safety standards during the conversion process. - Local concern: Cities asked for more time and local flexibility to adopt objective standards, to ensure public improvements and fees can be addressed for conversions.

Provenance

Topic introduction excerpt: "AB 507 is the Office to Housing Conversion Act, will accelerate adaptive reuse projects of historic office buildings..." (transcript block ~6516)

Topic finish (vote): Committee recorded a 5-2 vote to pass as amended to the Committee on Housing.

Speakers

- Assemblymember Haney — Author - Mark Flicksovich — Streets for All (support) - Angie Monetti — California Apartment Association (support) - Jeremy Smith — State Building and Construction Trades Council (support, after amendments) - League of California Cities representative (opposition unless amended) - Claire Sullivan — City of Thousand Oaks (opposition) - Dylan Hoffman — City of Beverly Hills (opposition)

Authorities

- building and safety codes (state and local) — referenced_by: ["topicintro"]

Actions

- kind: "motion" identifiers: {agenda_item_id: "AB 507"} motion: "Do pass as amended to the Committee on Housing" tally: {yes:5, no:2} outcome: "approved" notes: "Amendments accepted addressing labor and other concerns; ministerial process retained but does not waive building-safety standards."

Clarifying details

- Applicability: focused on infill/downtown parcels; the bill as amended includes objective criteria to help target appropriate buildings. - Safety: supporters emphasized that state and local building standards still apply and that additional inspections and retrofits would remain required for conversions. - Financing and public improvements: League expressed concern about ensuring cities can require or collect fees and make public improvements when residential uses generate greater service needs.

Proper names

- Streets for All (organization) - California Apartment Association (organization) - State Building and Construction Trades Council (organization) - League of California Cities (organization)

Community relevance

- Geographies: downtown commercial cores across California; candidates for conversion include Downtown Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fresno and other central business districts. - Impact groups: downtown small businesses, potential residents of converted units, historic-preservation stakeholders, labor unions

Meeting_context

- Engagement_level: broad stakeholder turnout with labor, preservationists, cities and industry represented - Implementation_risk: medium (dependent on local capacity to enforce building standards and on the economics of conversions) - History: similar bill considered last year; new amendments added following past negotiations.

Searchable tags: ["AB507","adaptive reuse","office to housing","downtown recovery","building codes"]

Provenance_segments:[{"block_id":"block_6516.095_6631.8696","local_start":0,"local_end":220,"evidence_excerpt":"AB 507 is designed to empower local governments to engage in planning to develop strategies for a clean energy future... To help downtowns build more housing, AB 507 creates a pathway for by right ministerial approval of office conversion projects..." ,"reason_code":"topicintro"},{"block_id":"block_7812.02_7836.825","local_start":0,"local_end":140,"evidence_excerpt":"The motion is due passed as amended to the committee on housing... The vote is 5 2 and the bill is out.","reason_code":"topicfinish"}]