BUILD Act lowers cost of new construction
PLUS: Speed cameras are working - speeding & deaths down
What You Need To Know
Here’s what happened around the city for the week of February 22, 2026:
- BUILD Act lowers cost of new construction
- Speed cameras are working - speeding & deaths down
- SF Democratic Party Endorses Wiener for Congress
- Sprinkler retrofit mandate may be delayed
BUILD Act lowers cost of new construction
Published February 27, 2026
The Facts
It’s about to get easier to build. Mayor Lurie and Supervisor Mahmood just introduced the BUILD Act to cut San Francisco’s transfer tax on multifamily residential buildings in half, plus a companion ballot measure to end a foreclosure/deed-in-lieu exemption to ensure it’s revenue neutral. City Hall estimates the change will save builders about $32,000 per home.
This matters because the people who build apartments don’t operate them long-term—they build and sell to a building operator. So a transfer tax on that first sale functions like a legally mandated increase in construction costs.
The Context
Dean Preston’s Prop I (2020) doubled the tax rates, which was pitched as a “mansion tax” but excluded mansions and taxed multifamily buildings (like apartments) instead. This effort undoes Dean Preston’s signature accomplishment.
In March 2024, voters approved charter changes letting the Board reduce the tax.
The stakes are huge: City Hall has warned of 52,000 approved units stuck in limbo, tracked in the Planning Department’s pipeline report.
The GrowSF Take
The theory of taxation is simple: tax something you want less of, and Dean Preston wanted less housing.
Transfer taxes on big multifamily transactions hit the financing math that determines whether apartments get built. This reform is a practical way to reduce deal friction and unlock housing starts.
Speed cameras are working - speeding & deaths down
Published February 27, 2026
The Facts
Traffic enforcement is back up—finally! After the total collapse of traffic enforcement, citations have rebounded from 26,000 in 2024 to 122,000 in 2025. And 91,000 of those were from the 33 speed cameras over just five months, according to Danielle Echeverria and Rachel Swan at the San Francisco Chronicle. By comparison, SFPD only wrote about 20,000 traffic tickets.
The Context
The state only allowed this approach after AB 645 created a pilot program (through 2032) that treats camera tickets as civil penalties, requires an early warning period, and caps SF at 33 systems.
In January, SFMTA/DPH/SFPD said traffic deaths fell to 25 in 2025, down from 43 in 2024—a 42% decline. It’s the first meaningful progress in decades.
The GrowSF Take
It’s well known that certainty of punishment is more effective at deterring bad behavior than severity of punishment, and this is yet more evidence. When drivers know they will be caught and fined for speeding, they slow down.
Not only have these 33 speed cameras increased street safety and reduced road deaths while generating a bunch of money along the way. Wow!
SF Democratic Party Endorses Wiener for Congress
Published February 26, 2026
The Facts
At the California Democratic Party’s state convention, delegates endorsed state Sen. Scott Wiener in the open race to replace retiring Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
Wiener is running against SF Supervisor Connie Chan and Saikat Chakrabarti. The first big test is the June 2, 2026 primary, where candidates who finish first and second advance.
The Context
California uses a “top-two” primary for congressional races: everyone appears on one ballot, and only the top two vote-getters move on to November—regardless of party.
For SF, this contest is also a proxy fight over housing. Wiener has become a statewide symbol of pro-housing, pro-transit reform—and has been backed by groups like the Housing Action Coalition and SF YIMBY. Chan, by contrast, has generally opposed new housing which aligns her with the progressive bloc. Chakrabarti has indicated strong support for taxpayer funded housing.
The GrowSF Take
Voters should press every candidate in CA-11 to be explicit about how they’ll expand housing supply, ensure federal funding for transportation and infrastructure, cut federal red tape on green infrastructure (including homes!), and what other support the federal government can send to San Francisco.
Our congressional questionnaire is in candidates’ hands now, and it focuses exclusively on San Francisco issues. We’re excited to share all the answers when they’re back.
Sprinkler retrofit mandate may be delayed
Published February 27, 2026
The Facts
High rise residents are facing a looming 2027 deadline to perform costly sprinkler retrofits. After public outcry, Mayor Lurie and Supervisors Sauter and Sherrill sponsored legislation to delay the deadline by five years. It passed its first hurdle this week and is heading to the full board soon for a vote.
Cost estimates for the retrofit range from $60,000 to $300,000 per unit - or roughly $600 million to $3 billion citywide.
The delay would help about 9,800 homes in 126 older towers, according to JK Dineen at The Chronicle.
The Context
Sprinklers are obviously effective at suppressing fire, but many modern materials can provide similar life-safety benefits at a lower cost. The primary concern for a high rise on fire is that occupants have enough time to get out, which both sprinklers and modern materials can do. A NIST cost-benefit study suggests that sprinklers can be cost-effective in some settings.
San Francisco has required major fire-safety retrofits before, including a prior sprinkler program for high-rise commercial buildings and tourist hotels built before 1974.
The GrowSF Take
The role of safety regulations are not to eliminate risk, but to reduce it where the benefits outweigh the costs. In this situation, it’s unclear if the cost/benefit ratio make sense.
SF should not impose a potentially multi-billion-dollar mandate without publishing a real cost/benefit analysis: expected risk reduction, expected fire losses avoided, and a workable permitting + financing plan.