SF Can Now Seize Private Buildings to Use as Emergency Housing

Thanks to Curbed for letting us know about the city memorandum outlining San Francisco’s powers to seize privately-owned land and buildings for emergency housing during the coronavirus outbreak.

According to the memo, issued on April 3, 2020, Mayor London Breed holds the broad power to commandeer private property (as long as they pay “fair value”) as an alternative means of emergency housing during the coronavirus pandemic but she would also need to have the approval of the Board of Supervisors before doing so.

The county health officer would also have the emergency power needed to commandeer property and wouldn’t need the board’s go-ahead.

And although no specific buildings are mentioned in the memo, with a rather click-worthy headline, Business Insider identifies Salesforce Tower and the Twitter building as potential properties. “San Francisco could seize the headquarters of tech giants like Salesforce and Twitter to use as emergency housing for the city’s homeless and first responders.”

Read the full memo: City Power to Commandeer Private Property for COVID-19 Emergency Purposes

Would this ever actually happen? We’d say it’s highly unlikely given the amount of lawsuits there would be and the fact that any privately-owned building (including your own) could be subject to seizure. But we never thought that the whole world could be practically shut down, so never say never.

Read more: Curbed | Business Insider | San Francisco City Attorney