Finding a home at a reasonable price is hard to come by in the Bay Area, and the lack of progress on new developments in San Francisco could make it a problem for years to come.
A big chunk of new housing developments in the city are tied up with three projects, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle. And they are far from being completed.
The three projects were approved in 2011, the newspaper said, and they make up about 35% of the housing pipeline. Today, those projects are only 1.3% completed
The developments were designed to transform three neighborhoods: the Hunters Point shipyard, Treasure Island and Parkmerced. Altogether, they totaled more than 25,000 units. But after nine years, only 350 homes have been built.
The projects were often sidetracked because of long approval processes, high infrastructure costs and environmental issues, as well as developers being pressured to invest in open space, affordable housing and transportation, the newspaper reported.
There have been success stories with these types of mega developments in areas such as San Mateo and Mission Bay in San Francisco, with thousands of units being built near Chase Center.
As it stands, more than 75,000 units are a part of these mega developments, mostly on former military sites.