According to the owner of the Seal Rock Inn Restaurant, which for 46 years has served a mix of locals and tourists from its perch on Point Lobos Avenue, the establishment will not reopen when the pandemic ends. This is, sadly, not surprising news in itself, as a great many SF standbys may not make it through these days of COVID-19 limbo. But in this case, its owner says, the culprit isn’t the public health crisis, but an unexpected rent hike.Unlike , Seal Rock’s restaurant is a separately-owned tenant of the lodgings that rise above it. For the past 46 years, the Elam family has owned the...…According to the owner of the Seal Rock Inn Restaurant, which for 46 years has served a mix of locals and tourists from its perch on Point Lobos Avenue, the establishment will not reopen when the pandemic ends. This is, sadly, not surprising news in itself, as a great many SF standbys may not make it through these days of COVID-19 limbo. But in this case, its owner says, the culprit isn’t the public health crisis, but an unexpected rent hike.Unlike , Seal Rock’s restaurant is a separately-owned tenant of the lodgings that rise above it. For the past 46 years, the Elam family has owned the...WW…

Filed under:City Attorney Dennis Herrera says there’s broad power to commandeer buildings and land during an emergencySan Francisco’s civic government can seize seemingly any privately-owned land or buildings as part of its effort to protect people from the COVID-19 outbreak.In fact, according to San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, there are few limits on what certain public office holders may do with private property .—a response to queries from unnamed parties at City Hall—Herrera explains the process for commandeering properties, and the rules by which SF must abide if it takes...…Filed under:City Attorney Dennis Herrera says there’s broad power to commandeer buildings and land during an emergencySan Francisco’s civic government can seize seemingly any privately-owned land or buildings as part of its effort to protect people from the COVID-19 outbreak.In fact, according to San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, there are few limits on what certain public office holders may do with private property .—a response to queries from unnamed parties at City Hall—Herrera explains the process for commandeering properties, and the rules by which SF must abide if it takes...WW…

Filed under:“Maybe the reason NIMBY-flavored arguments remain so entrenched in the region is that, in a frustrating twist, sometimes NIMBYs are right”Those who push for more housing development in San Francisco—from politicians and developers to economists and academics—present a simple, time-tested argument: If you want to lower housing prices, then build more housing. It’s all about supply and demand, the simplest market principle, right?Not so fast.In the Bay Area, an oft-cited contra-hypothesis holds that you’ll never lower home prices by building more—at least not at market rates ( in...…Filed under:“Maybe the reason NIMBY-flavored arguments remain so entrenched in the region is that, in a frustrating twist, sometimes NIMBYs are right”Those who push for more housing development in San Francisco—from politicians and developers to economists and academics—present a simple, time-tested argument: If you want to lower housing prices, then build more housing. It’s all about supply and demand, the simplest market principle, right?Not so fast.In the Bay Area, an oft-cited contra-hypothesis holds that you’ll never lower home prices by building more—at least not at market rates ( in...WW…