Planning Commission approves 75‑unit Broadway housing project under CARS‑to‑Casas; 5‑2 vote

The Planning Commission on July 10 approved a revised proposal to demolish a commercial parking garage at 425 Broadway and build two mixed‑use buildings with about 75 dwelling units and roughly 8,000 square feet of ground‑floor retail in North Beach.

The project sponsor, represented by Steve Vettel, said the design is similar to an earlier 2021 approval but now uses the city’s CARS‑to‑Casas provision to convert auto‑oriented site capacity into housing. Vettel told the commission the plan increases homes from 42 to 75, eliminates office space, provides no off‑street parking and will pay an in‑lieu fee of over $3,800,000 to the city’s affordable housing fund rather than providing on‑site inclusionary units.

Why this matters: The proposal is located in a Priority Equity Geography and next to a single‑room occupancy (SRO) building whose tenants and advocates pressed the commission for on‑site…