Dear Real Estate Developers
Dear Real Estate Developers,
Hi, my name is Leigha Beckman. I’m not totally sure who to address this to, but I’m hoping that “real estate developers” is a catch-all for the housing-builders and you guys meet at a secret society or something and are privy to all the same info. Anyway, even though I live in San Francisco, where you’ve been hanging out a lot recently, we’ve actually never met. But as you will see in a moment, we definitely need to talk.
As you probably know, the Bay Area is ridiculously short on housing. There’s all these humans here, and all these jobs that keep attracting more humans, but there’s not really much housing to house the humans. So I’m like, hey, we need more housing! But when I say this, the people who are averse to new housing keep telling me that I am a “paid shill” and/or lobbyist for you guys.
But the thing is, no one has paid me yet. I check my mail pretty frequently — I mean, actually, I should probably go check my mail, it’s been like a week — but I think I would have seen a fat check by now, right? Are you sure it went out? I feel like there is a misunderstanding here.
Some people also say I must be a paid consultant, but none of you guys have asked for my professional recommendations. Um, so here it is, for free:
Build more, please!
I’m also a member of SFBARF, an organization that advocates for new housing and housing-related policy. And the anti-development crowd says the same thing about them — that the group is a front for real-estate developers (that’s you guys).
But SFBARF was started by a schoolteacher with no ties to the real estate industry. As of SFBARF’s last reporting period, just 10% of their funding came from real estate companies. And apart from Sonja Trauss, the founder of the organization, everyone else participates on a volunteer basis. By the way, Sonja lives in West Oakland and pays $500 a month for rent. So, if she’s a real estate crony, she’s doing a pretty crappy job of collecting.
So what’s going on? What kind of front are we if we don’t even get moneys from the thing we are fronting? This whole thing makes no sense!
Unless, I guess, we aren’t really paid shills. Because you’re not paying us. And we’re not really shills.
Dear Real Estate Developers, I’m not a front for you because my cause isn’t about you. It’s about the people who live in the Bay Area. To the extent you are complying with zoning laws, permitting processes, affordable housing requirements, environmental reviews, and other housing regulations, I’m satisfied. Aesthetic preferences, while sort of a bonus, are really beyond my scope. I do wish you would stop building giant, energy-sucking McMansions out in the ’burbs, but for some reason the anti-development crowd never seems to complain about those.
What the anti-development crowd does complain about, frustratingly, is urban in-fill development. If you Google “infill development”, here is what you will see:
Infill development is the process of developing vacant or under-used parcels within existing urban areas that are already largely developed.
San Francisco is full of under-used parcels. Vacant lots, abandoned gas stations, barely used parking lots, empty warehouses, etc. Who do you think benefits from those? The answer is “literally no one”.
So developers come in to build housing. But every single time new housing is proposed on any lot, anywhere in the city, there is guaranteed backlash from existing residents. And if you come out in support of the project, you might find yourself facing accusations of being a “paid shill” for the developer. The implication being that being pro-housing necessarily requires you to be “in it for the money” or some other nefarious, imagined motive.
Dear neighbors, this is absurd. Your pro-housing neighbors are not double agents in a Martin Scorcese film. My desire for more housing stems not from some imagined promise of a payout, but from my desire for a more inclusive metro area. You cannot have an inclusive society when there is only one house for every ten people. The richest guy will always win.
So, if you want a scary soundbite, here it is:
Blocking new housing ensures that San Francisco goes to the highest bidder.
As someone who sure as hell is not the highest bidder, you can see my interest in supporting new housing. If real estate guys were paying me to say this, and I were rolling in moneys, why would I even care? I’d be rich!
Anyway, real estate developers, I suppose all I’m asking is that you keep doing what you’ve been doing — not paying me and building housing.
Now I say good day.
Sincerely,
Leigha Beckman
(A Person You’ve Never Met)
