From official newsletter

We found 147 city-owned sites that could be housing

Sep 30, 2026, 12:30 AM • Danny Sauter

Summary

District 3 Supervisor Danny Sauter highlights a new report identifying 147 city-owned sites in San Francisco that could be repurposed for housing to address the ongoing housing crisis. The report reveals underutilized properties including SFUSD buildings, SFMTA parking lots, and vacant city offices that could collectively support thousands of new homes. It emphasizes the need for a coordinated, citywide strategy to manage public real estate more effectively, proposing consolidation, redevelopment, and joint housing-public use projects. Sauter calls for concrete city action to review and prioritize these sites for housing development to better serve the community.

Related causes

Housing Development

Key positions and references

Key positions

Support repurposing city-owned land for housing
Advocate for a citywide public real estate strategy
Prioritize consolidation and redevelopment of public buildings
Promote joint housing and public facility development

Agenda items and issues mentioned

report on underutilized city-owned properties
SFUSD surplus buildings
SFMTA surface parking lots
vacant city buildings including Human Services Agency office

Full newsletter

Formatted for readability from newsletter text.

Read our report published today

*A Note From District 3 Supervisor Danny Sauter*

( https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/public-land-housing-map-22448115.php?utm_campaign=website&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sendgrid.com )

CLICK HERE TO READ REPORT ( https://media.api.sf.gov/documents/BLA.Underutilized_Property.092926.pdf?utm_campaign=website&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sendgrid.com )

In our continued housing crisis, we should be making the most of every last piece of land, especially our publicly owned land.

In this spirit, I directed the city’s Budget and Legislative Analyst to examine the real estate portfolios of City departments, SFUSD, and City College and review whether surplus or underutilized properties exist that could support housing and other public purposes.

After months of analysis, the report is ready and sheds light on the opportunities across San Francisco for better use of our publicly owned buildings. Simply put, *we already own the land that could provide thousands of new homes for our neighbors*.

* SFUSD has administration functions spread across 8 different buildings, including using one building just to store transcripts and records. That building hasn’t been used as a school since 1977, and our analysis showed it could instead be turned into 218 new homes! * SFMTA owns 21 surface parking lots, presenting real opportunities to keep parking on lower levels but develop to also include housing. * 44 buildings are either vacant or soon-to-be vacant. This includes the Human Services Agency office which is projected to be able to accommodate 272 homes instead if turned into housing. * The report also considers creative joint development scenarios for aging public buildings. Some 10 libraries, 7 police stations, 7 parking garages, 12 fire stations, 7 recreation centers, and 6 bus facilities were found to be attractive candidates for co-locating housing as part of the necessary future facility improvements.

( https://sfstandard.com/2026/09/29/sf-affordable-housing-solution-city-owned-land-report/?utm_campaign=website&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sendgrid.com )

A central finding of the report is that *San Francisco needs a Citywide strategy for public real estate*. The City's method of managing its real estate is too fragmented and passive. The City should continuously evaluate public property as a portfolio—looking not only for obviously vacant land, but also for opportunities to consolidate facilities, rebuild aging buildings, add housing to existing public uses, and use sales or leases to finance other priorities.

( https://sfstandard.com/2026/09/29/sf-affordable-housing-solution-city-owned-land-report/?utm_campaign=website&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sendgrid.com )

This report clearly demonstrates that we need a creative, coordinated approach to using our public land to help us solve our housing crisis. Many of these sites are sitting stagnant in our neighborhoods when they could be turned into housing for our neighbors. I look forward to turning the findings of this report into concrete action for the City to start reviewing this portfolio and identifying the best future use for each of these sites.

You can read the full report here ( https://media.api.sf.gov/documents/BLA.Underutilized_Property.092926.pdf?utm_campaign=website&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sendgrid.com ).

See you in the neighborhood, *Supervisor Danny Sauter*

( https://www.facebook.com/dannysauterd3supervisor/?utm_campaign=website&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sendgrid.com ) ( https://x.com/dannysauter?utm_campaign=website&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sendgrid.com ) ( https://www.instagram.com/dannysauterd3/?utm_campaign=website&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sendgrid.com )

Danny Sauter

1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244 , San Francisco , CA 94102

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