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Report regarding an ordinance establishing a permit process for single room occupancy hotel closures, redevelopments, or changes of use including noticing and relocation benefits for residents. (Pierce Abrahamson, Management Analyst II)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommend that the City Council consider adopting an urgency ordinance and introducing a regular ordinance establishing a permit process for single room occupancy (SRO) hotels proposed to be converted, demolished, and/or redeveloped. The intention of this policy is to establish streamlined administrative processes for the City to enforce noticing and relocation benefit requirements for residents displaced if/when this housing type changes use.
BACKGROUND
South San Francisco is home to a unique type of naturally occurring affordable housing - SRO hotels. SRO hotels are residential properties where individual tenants rent small, single rooms with shared bathrooms and often shared kitchens. Single room occupancy hotels provide naturally occurring affordable housing for lower-income households, usually renting for $700 to $1,200 per room, per month. At this rent rate, this housing type is affordable to extremely low-income individuals without requiring an additional rent subsidy[NS1]. For comparison, market rents as of December 2024 for studio and one-bedroom apartments in South San Francisco are $1,795 and $2,500 per month respectively according to Zillow. Consequently, SRO hotels play a critical role in preserving affordable housing in the City, which currently has a rental housing shortage of 560 housing units affordable to households making under $50,000.
When an SRO hotel closes due to conversion or redevelopment, its residents are displaced and may face significant obstacles finding replacement permanent housing. In South San Francisco, this type of housing is vulnerable to closure and redevelopment due to changing market conditions and the age of the buildings. As SRO owners seek to sell or ...
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