Dennis Herrera, who took office in January, announced today that the developer in question, Harsch Investment Corp., now has until April 18 to pay the back fees that were imposed six years ago because the Allison Hotel's residential units on Stockton Street were about to be converted to tourist rentals. Interest accrued since 1996 is also due, according to the City Attorney's office.
The order to pay up, or restore the 74 units of affordable housing that were lost, was issued in March by San Francisco Superior Court Judge Alex Saldamando.
Still, an appeal could be filed with the State Court of Appeal, and attorneys might revive a federal suit that was filed in 1993 but was later dropped.
Herrera, whose office won a state Supreme Court victory on March 4 to uphold the city's hotel conversion law, said he believes this most recent victory is important as well.
"This case is about defending the city's right to protect its affordable housing stock,'' Herrera says. "The conversion of low-income residential units to tourist use removes an important source of affordable housing, and the courts confirmed that city officials have the right to address this problem through the Planning Code.''
Deputy City Attorney Andrew Schwartz, who handled the Allison Hotel case, says his office has won roughly 10 challenges to the Residential Hotel Ordinance passed in 1979 to restrict the conversion of such units to more profitable tourist uses.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
