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Planning staff outlines Market Street Hub rezoning to add housing, public realm upgrades
Summary
Planning Department staff presented an informational Market Street Hub study proposing modest rezoning and a public realm plan for the area south of Market Street to increase affordable housing, reduce parking and study transit capacity and wind impacts; commissioners requested design typologies, value-capture analysis and detailed affordability breakdowns before final action.
Maya Small, a staff architect with the San Francisco Planning Department, presented the Market Street Hub study on Oct. 15, describing a two-part effort of rezoning and a public realm plan for the area south of Market Street in the Market Octavia plan area.
“The most important goal of the rezoning effort would be to increase the amount of affordable housing,” Small said, describing pipeline projections of roughly 3,700 new housing units with just over 700 affordable units already proposed and modeling scenarios that could raise the affordable share toward roughly 33 percent under higher inclusionary requirements.
Staff said modest increases in height and bulk—typically on sites already zoned for taller buildings—could yield additional below-market units, and that a revised EIR would be scoped to examine cumulative effects including wind and transit patterns. The presentation also discussed potential parking reductions, an anticipated net decrease in off-street parking, and study of contributions to improve transit capacity on Market Street.
During questions, commissioners pressed staff for more granular financial and design information. Commissioner Wu asked for a scope of expected height or bulk increases; Small replied that increases were generally modest—often in the 10–15 percent range—and would be targeted to sites already sized for taller typologies. Commissioners also sought clearer accounting for on-site versus off-site inclusionary units and asked staff to clarify whether off-site units would necessarily be located within the hub boundary or within the program—s one-mile radius.
Planning Director Ram and staff said they would return with additional analysis, including urban-design typologies created with David Baker—s team and more precise value-capture calculations. Commissioners recommended early engagement with transit agencies, additional neighborhood outreach and design examples so the commission and public can assess potential impacts and trade-offs as the rezoning and public realm work proceeds.
The item was presented as informational; staff said further, more detailed scenarios and community outreach will follow before any formal regulatory changes are recommended.
