The company behind San Francisco’s tiny $700-a-month sleeping “pods” has accused city officials of making the city’s homeless problem worse as it conducts a lengthy investigation.
Brownstone says it’s waiting for city officials to approve a change-of-use request so it can continue operating its 4-foot-tall sleeping cabins at Mint Plaza.
City officials told BI that Brownstone still needs to make significant safety improvements to comply with the law.
The pods made headlines late last year after becoming a big hit with some tech workers looking for affordable housing in central San Francisco. Authorities later claimed the modules had been installed illegally without a residential building permit.
Daniel Sider, The chief of staff of San Francisco’s planning department said in a statement: “Brownstone built a Gen Z pod farm in the dark of night, got caught, and showed its unwillingness to accommodate its tenants safely or to comply with the law. »
He said his staff had extended “a helping hand from day one” of the process.
Although Brownstone still operates the pods for existing residents, Stallworth said city planners asked the company not to add additional residents until it approved the pods — a process that took nearly eight months.
“The fact that the process has taken this long is embarrassing for the city and shows why there are still thousands of people sleeping on the streets,” Stallworth said in an emailed statement.
City officials say Brownstone “repeatedly failed” to provide the basic drawings required for review, and that “simple questions went unanswered.”
“Without their cooperation, we have no way to move things forward,” Sider said.
Waiting list growing
Stallworth said the waiting list for the modules grew to more than 50 people while the company waited to resolve the dispute with city officials.
He said the list of candidates included several AI entrepreneurs who view hosting at Mint Plaza “as the best way to participate in San Francisco’s growing AI community.”
Technicians who have lived in the pods have already praised the accommodation for its affordability and lively environment.
Christian Lewis, founder of a tech startup, posted photos of his experience in one of the pods on X, claiming that “several AI founders and independent hackers” also lived in the pods.
He said in his post: “I’m just trying to stay in the city of San Francisco without paying $4,000 a month or getting stabbed, and I think it’s a great solution so far. There’s lots of nice people here too.”
‘Absurdity’
Stallworth said he felt construction and planning employees made the process too difficult.
“It took almost a year to get a simple change of use,” he said. “The planning department is the reason San Francisco’s homeless problem hasn’t been solved.”
Sider called the assertion “nonsense,” adding that San Francisco was “a great place for new homes, and new rules from the state, the mayor and our Board of Supervisors make housing construction significantly simpler throughout the city.
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