S.F. apartment construction boom around the corner

After hibernating for years, apartment construction is poised to boom in San Francisco, where desperate renters say those high-rises can't rise high or fast enough.

Largely in response to the city's growing technology sector, 22,000 residential units are in various stages of approval and construction. In a few years, residents could be signing leases for new addresses in South Beach, South of Market, Central Market and Mission Bay.

"There's been so much approved over the last four years that's never been built, so there's essentially a backlog of projects waiting for financing," said John Rahaim, the city's planning director.

Since 2008, only about 1,710 units were built each year, compared with an average of 2,220 each year between 2004 and 2008, according to the department.

Now, five major dwellings that were approved before 2008 and stalled during the recession have been restarted. Developers have begun, completed or been cleared for construction on more than 2,000 units.

More are on the way. Eight residential buildings, with more than 1,300 combined units, received building permits last year. There are permit applications for another $1.6 billion worth of projects, Department of Building Inspection records show.

The upcoming construction boom, real estate observers say, gets its boost from a more stable economy, financiers once again being willing to invest and an incoming wave of employees at local companies like Twitter, Zynga and Salesforce. While some city-mandated affordable housing will be built, many of the new units will be priced beyond the reach of working- and middle-class residents.

"If these tech companies are moving in right now, where are all these people going to live?" asked Joske Thompson, a local real estate agent. "The demand is far greater than the supply right now."

One site that has come back to life is 1844 Market St., west of Octavia Boulevard, where construction will start in April.

Set to open in fall 2013, the $55 million building will have 113 rental units - 99 market-rate and 14 affordable units.

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S.F. apartment construction boom around the corner