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San Francisco Day School, a respected K-8 independent institution, turned to Lighthouse for support for two planning approvals: a conditional-use authorization to increase overall enrollment and a separate entitlement to convert an adjacent apartment building into dedicated teacher housing — critical for recruiting and retaining faculty in one of the nation’s most expensive housing markets.
Both requests faced steep hurdles. Development in San Francisco raises predictable questions about traffic, noise, neighborhood character, and, in this case, tenant protections. Repurposing rent-controlled units can trigger intense scrutiny from advocates and policymakers, and recent amendments to eviction-control and rent-stabilization ordinances tightened the rules governing any change of use in older residential buildings.
Lighthouse crafted a strategy that framed the project’s community benefits and outlined the clear need for faculty housing. We demonstrated how modest enrollment expansion would broaden access to financial-aid students and enhance programming, and we documented that the teacher-housing plan would occur without displacing existing tenants. Working closely with Planning Department staff, we prepared clear public-benefit findings, secured letters of support from neighborhood leaders, and equipped school representatives with messaging that reinforced these benefits.
At Planning Commission hearings, concerns about displacement and neighborhood impact gave way to a focus on educational opportunity and workforce stability. Both the enrollment increase and the teacher-housing conversion won approval without appeal, allowing San Francisco Day School to add classroom capacity and provide below-market homes for its faculty — all while maintaining strong relations with neighbors and complying fully with the City’s evolving tenant-protection framework.
