Supervisors hold hours-long hearing on limited-equity co-ops; officials propose study and capacity investments

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ Land Use and Transportation Committee held an extended hearing on November 1 to examine the city’s limited-equity housing cooperatives (LEHCs) and what the city can do to preserve and build co-op homeownership.

Chair Supervisor Mirna Melgar said the hearing aimed to set a baseline for existing co-ops, address structural barriers (including historical disinvestment), and identify refinancing and financing paths to preserve affordability. The panel of witnesses included Lydia Ealy of the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD); Saki Bailey of the San Francisco Community Land Trust (SFCLT); Caroline Fang of Mission Economic Development Agency (META); Andrew Ryker of New York's Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB); Fernando Marti of the Council of Community Housing Organizations; and residents and co-op leaders including Norma Brown and Reverend Arnold Townsend.

MOHCD overview. Deputy Lydia Ealy said the office currently provides mostly on-demand technical assistance for co-ops and lacks an in-house, proactive program. She described recent MOHCD-sponsored technical assistance (Enterprise Northern California) and recommended pursuing a large-scale study to…