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Committee advances plan to create downtown university attraction fund, including bond financing
Summary
The Rules Committee forwarded an ordinance to create a Downtown University Attraction and Retention Fund offering incentives (including bond financing) to recruit public colleges to SoMa, Union Square and the Financial District to help fill vacant office space and boost downtown activity.
The Rules Committee voted to forward an ordinance establishing a Downtown University Attraction and Retention Fund that would provide incentives, including bond financing and philanthropic contributions, to attract public colleges and universities to downtown San Francisco neighborhoods.
Sponsor Supervisor Asha Safai said the city has substantial vacant office inventory — she referenced figures in committee describing roughly 40 million square feet of empty office space and a vacancy rate near 37% — and argued now is an opportune time to buy and repurpose properties. She cited Phoenix’s partnership with Arizona State University as a model for downtown revival and said the fund could use bond financing coordinated with the capital plan.
Supervisors asked how bond resources would fit into the capital plan; Safai said the fund would work with the capital plan and that bond tools used elsewhere (including certificates of participation) could be options. The committee adopted a non-substantive amendment to explicitly include bond financing in the ordinance language and sent the item as a committee report to the full Board.
Next steps: the measure will proceed to the full Board for further consideration and any follow-up on financing mechanics and specific proposals.
