Bill seeks to lift roadblocks to office-to-residential transformation

A state assembly bill would make it easier to convert empty office space into housing.

If passed, AB 1532 would make it easier to get exemptions from the California Environmental Quality Act, while waiving impact fees not directly related to an office-to-housing conversion project, according to the bill’s text.

Also, the bill – written by Assemblyman Matt Haney, D-San Francisco – would allow the developer of such a project to pay impact fees over a 10-year period, subject to some requirements.

Any office-to-residential conversion would have to set aside 10 percent of its units for low-income residents and families, the text states.