The plan, likely tweaked by the Supervisors, removes some industrial area in favor of thousands of new housing units surrounding the Mission Bay district, Showplace Square/Potrero Hill, east SoMa and the central waterfront neighborhoods–the heart of the city's industrial past–while restricting residential and office from cannibalizing more of the area. It also provides incentives meant to spark additional commercial development (light industry, office, retail and restaurants), creates development fees to pay for the necessary infrastructure improvements, and requires residential developers to make some units affordable not only to low-income families but also to middle-income families.

During the boom years of the 1990s, dot-coms and residential developers converted a good portion of the area's buildings into hip office space and loft condominiums. The rezoning–the result of years of planning and review, hearings and negotiations–allows the city to better manage the integration and ensure that none of the real estate food groups gets left on the plate in the feeding frenzy expected to accompany the next boom.

As is, the proposed plan takes approximately two-million sf of land zoned for light industry–which the city defines as production, distribution and repair uses–and rezones it for between 7,500 and 10,000 new housing units over the next 10 years. It also prohibits residential and office from further eroding the industrial base through special permits, which is how it happened during the boom years.