Inner Richmond's First Family Zoning Tower, and What It Shows About Which Lots Will Change Next

The two-story building at 230 Anza Street had been empty since 2019. Oakland-based IvyHills LLC bought it last summer for roughly $945,000, according to The San Francisco Standard. On July 23, 2026, the Planning Commission approved an eight-story condominium building on the site. It was the first project approved under Mayor Daniel Lurie's Family Zoning Plan.

The lot is zoned for 40 feet. The Standard reported that the project qualifies for nearly double that, 85 feet, because it sits near transit and meets the city's new density targets. SF YIMBY's August 2 account of the approved plans lists the building at 95 feet, with eight homes, two of them affordable. The two outlets don't explain why their heights differ. Either way, the new building will stand over a block the Standard describes as mostly two- and three-story homes.

"This is the new San Francisco," Commissioner Sean McGarry said as he voted yes, the Standard reported. He added, "There's going to be little needles sticking out in every neighborhood."

That image of scattered needles is the right one, and the scatter isn't random. If you are comparing Inner Richmond blocks, the height map tells you less than you'd expect. The rules that decide which lots can actually use the new heights tell you more.

The site that moved first was the easiest one to move

Look at what 230 Anza had going for it before any architect drew a line. The building had sat vacant since 2019. It was small and cheap by San Francisco standards. It was close enough to transit to qualify for the local program, which goes by the official name Housing Choice-San Francisco.

The project didn't start this big. When the expanded proposal was filed, SF YIMBY reported on March 5, 2026 that invoking the Family Zoning Plan had more than doubled the capacity of the earlier scheme for the same lot. Only the rules around the lot had changed.

That pattern repeats along the corridor, and it comes from the amendments the Board of Supervisors added before final passage.

What the final amendments took off the table

The Board adopted the plan on December 9, 2025. The mayor signed it on December 12, and the new Housing Choice rules took effect January 12, 2026, according to SF Planning's plan page and its Housing Sustainability District application. On paper, the plan changes zoning for about 96,000 parcels. It allows two to four extra stories near transit and commercial corridors on the west side, and taller buildings on a few major streets, Geary Boulevard among them, KQED reported.

Several amendments then narrowed which of those parcels would realistically be redeveloped. As the Standard summarized on the day of the vote:

• Rent-controlled buildings with three or more units. Supervisor Myrna Melgar's amendment protects these buildings from redevelopment into larger projects. KQED put the number at about 80,000 rent-controlled units. Demolishing any rent-controlled unit would first require Planning Commission approval.
• Historic buildings. Board President Rafael Mandelman's amendment exempted historic buildings from demolition.
• Residential flats. Supervisor Connie Chan, who represents the Richmond, restored a mandate that had been cut from the plan: the city must hold hearings before approving the demolition of residential flats.
• Specific Geary sites. Supervisor Stephen Sherrill carved out a seniors home and dialysis center on Geary Boulevard from development, along with sites elsewhere in the city.

Chan's broader efforts failed. Her amendment to protect all rent-controlled units from demolition lost 7–4. A proposed District 1 rollback that would have returned Inner Clement to 40 feet and cut some corridor heights from 85 to 65 feet was tabled on November 17, 2025.

Taken together, the amendments sort the corridor into lots that are effectively shielded and lots that are open. Much of the Inner Richmond's older housing is multi-unit rental stock, and it sits behind the first two protections. The lots left open look a lot like 230 Anza: vacant, commercial, damaged, or small enough that no protected units stand in the way.

A burned-out restaurant and a six-month clock

The second clear example is just east of the Inner Richmond, in Jordan Park. On September 2, 2026, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that developer Five Stars Investment LLC had applied to build 89 condos at 3300 Geary Boulevard. That is the former Hong Kong Lounge II, which a fire caused by a gas line explosion destroyed in 2019.

The site's history follows the rules. The Chronicle reported that the first version of the project called for 41 units and the second for 62. The current 89-unit application uses Housing Choice-San Francisco. Under that program, the Planning Department has six months to approve a project once the application is deemed complete.

The Chronicle set that timeline next to the Coronet, the 120-unit senior center and housing complex two blocks away. It was built in 2011 on the site of a shuttered movie theater after what the paper called a grueling approval process. A fixed approval window changes a developer's math as much as extra height does, because it puts a date on when a project can start.

Here is how the Geary-area filings that cite the new program compare:

SF YIMBY places 2800 Geary in Presidio Heights, at the eastern edge of the corridor, and reported that the application was handled by JS Sullivan. The Chronicle counts six Geary Boulevard projects totaling about 300 units in the pipeline. It doesn't say all six use Housing Choice-San Francisco.

Not every new tall proposal in the neighborhood relies on the plan. On October 9, 2026, SF YIMBY reported an eight-story, 38-home application at 228 Collins Street that uses the State Density Bonus instead.

Reading a block instead of a map

For a buyer weighing two similar flats a few blocks apart, these rules point to a more useful set of questions than "what is the height limit here?"

1. Which nearby lots are vacant, fire-damaged, or long-shuttered? Both 230 Anza and 3300 Geary had sat in that state since 2019 before their current proposals.
2. Which nearby buildings are rent-controlled with three or more units, or historic? Those carry the strongest protections in the final plan.
3. Are there single-story commercial buildings or small non-rent-controlled buildings near transit? Those are the kinds of lots the program's density and transit tests favor.
4. Is a residential flat involved? Any demolition would require a hearing, which adds time and a public step.

None of this predicts what a given owner will do. It only describes where the rules make redevelopment easy and where they make it hard. A sunny rear yard or a view toward the park depends on the lots next door, and these questions sort those lots more accurately than the zoning map does.

What is still unsettled as of October 2026

The plan is in effect, but three things remain open.

The first is litigation, and it comes from both sides. A coalition including Neighborhoods United SF and Small Business Forward filed a CEQA lawsuit on January 9, 2026, seeking to pause the plan, KQED reported. The Real Deal reported in February on a second suit, filed by YIMBY Law, the California Housing Defense Fund and Californians for Homeownership, which argues the plan does too little. Our research found no reported ruling in either case since February.

The second is state sign-off. When the mayor signed the plan, the city said California's housing department had preliminarily indicated compliance and expected to issue a final determination later in December 2025, according to the city's announcement. We could not locate that final determination.

The third is the ballot. Opponents had talked about a 2026 measure to roll the plan back. The city's list of qualified measures for November 3, 2026 includes none on the Family Zoning Plan.

All of this happens at a slow pace. The city's own projections, cited in the pro-housing lawsuit, show the plan producing as few as 8,500 to 14,600 units by 2045. The state requires San Francisco to plan for 82,069 by 2031. In the Inner Richmond, that slow citywide pace means change will come one parcel at a time, lot by lot, starting with the ones nothing else was standing on.

FAQ

Does the Family Zoning Plan let someone tear down a rent-controlled building next door? Rent-controlled buildings with three or more units are protected from the local bonus program. KQED reported that demolishing any rent-controlled unit would first require Planning Commission approval.

Did Inner Clement Street keep the higher heights? Supervisor Chan's proposal to return Inner Clement to 40 feet was tabled on November 17, 2025, and wasn't included in the adopted plan.

How fast can a Housing Choice project be approved? The Chronicle reported that Planning has six months once an application is deemed complete.

If you are weighing a flat, a TIC or a small building along the Geary or Anza corridors and want to know which nearby parcels the new rules actually open up, Amanda Jones Advisory & Associates can walk the block with you, building by building. Book a private consultation.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.