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Supervisor Preston advances amendments to restore rent-stabilization protections for Midtown Park tenants; item continued
Summary
Supervisor Preston introduced an ordinance to restore rent-stabilization protections to long‑term Midtown Park Apartments tenants and circulated substantive amendments that give legacy tenants a choice between a 2014 base-rent rollback or percentage-of-income rent, allow a one-time opt to switch, and remove annual income certification for rent-control option; the committee adopted amendments and continued the item to Oct. 1 after extensive public comment.
Supervisor Dean Preston presented an ordinance aimed at restoring rent-stabilization protections for long‑term tenants at the city‑owned Midtown Park Apartments (Geary and Devisadero). Preston said the property was created in 1967 as replacement housing for families displaced during earlier redevelopment and that many tenants believed they retained rent‑control protections until a 2014 change converted rent calculations to a percentage‑of‑income model, producing sudden rent increases for some long‑term residents.
Preston proposed substantive amendments to avoid unintended consequences: legacy tenants would be offered a choice between (1) a rent control path that sets base rent to the 2014 amount subject to allowable increases or (2) remaining on the percentage‑of‑income calculation; tenants who choose the rent‑control option would not be required to provide annual income certifications but would have to provide income data if the city later needs it for financing applications. The amendments also allow a one‑time opt‑out to switch from the rent‑control method to the income‑based method if a tenant later suffers a major income loss.
Nick Menard of the Budget and Legislative Analyst Office presented a fiscal estimate (pre‑amendments) that the city’s operating subsidy for the project could increase by about $550,000 per year under a rollback scenario. Preston and others said some of the BLA assumptions did not reflect units currently used for temporary relocation, and that vacant units and existing temporary uses may mitigate fiscal impacts. Midtown residents and community groups delivered extensive public comment describing large rent increases since 2014 (some tenants said increases as high as 300%), deferred maintenance and a history of broken promises about cooperative ownership.
After adopting the sponsor’s amendments the committee voted to continue the item to the October 1 GAO meeting to allow staff to incorporate the substantive edits and for further consideration (3–0). Several supervisors requested follow‑up fiscal clarifications from MOHCD and the BLA.
