Commission backs code amendments to limit wholesale conversion of landmark-eligible PDR buildings
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Summary
On Oct. 2 the commission recommended approval of planning-code amendments (sponsored by Supervisor Cohen) that would subject conversions of landmark-eligible buildings in designated PDR districts to story-based limits and conditional-use review to preserve PDR space and ensure historic-structure analyses and tenant-relocation consideration.
The commission voted to recommend planning-code amendments aimed at preventing wholesale conversion of landmark-eligible buildings in PDR districts (PDR1D and PDR1G), a change the city says is intended to preserve production, distribution and repair (PDR) space while providing owners a predictable, limited pathway to finance historic rehabilitation through partial office conversion.
Andrea Brasse of Supervisor Cohen's office explained the impetus: landmarking certain well-built older structures (for example the debate around 2 Henry Adams) can create pressure to convert whole buildings to higher-rent office uses, potentially displacing hundreds of PDR tenants. Staff reviewed the PDR districts and found roughly a dozen landmark-eligible buildings whose conversion could equal nearly 1,000,000 square feet of lost PDR in the study area.
The proposed ordinance would set story-based controls limiting the portion of a landmarked PDR building that could convert to office, require a historic-structures analysis and a plan for tenant relocation where appropriate, and route significant conversions to conditional-use review so the Historic Preservation Commission and Planning Commission could weigh neighborhood impacts. Historic Preservation staff had reviewed the draft and recommended the proposed approach with clarifying edits.
Commissioners supported the balance of historic-preservation incentives with PDR protections and voted unanimously to recommend approval with modifications. The motion passed 6'0to'0.
