Historic Solutions

Historic Preservation doesn’t have to Cost a Reduction in Housing Production

What to Expect

We offer in-kind contributions of our work to faith-based institutions, community organizations, and non-profit businesses

❋ Unlock Capital using Transferrable Development Rights or Other Air Rights

Funds can be allocated to the seismic, roofing, façade, electrical, accessibility, and mechanical improvements that aging buildings need alongside the capital planning required to preserve institutions for the next generation.

❋ Customize your Solution Based on your Institutional Needs

Offer up air rights, transferrable development rights, or explore development on your available land to fit your goals - at your own pace and stewardship.

❋ Know Your Potential Instantly and at a Fraction of the Cost

No need to assemble information from zoning maps, assessor records, historic-resource inventories, title documents, building records, housing laws, architects, appraisers, attorneys, developers, and public agencies.

❋ Expert Guidance Throughout the Process

No organization is better positioned to deliver this work at the intersection of parcel-level data, zoning intelligence, development feasibility, airspace property analysis, market valuation, and mission-driven property strategy.

Steward our Historic Buildings for the Next Generation

Case Studies

Most Recent Recorded TDR Use

A freestanding two-story building, featuring an open-air front atrium and mezzanine seating, which famously housed a downtown San Francisco McDonald's for nearly 30 years in the Front Street Historic Conservation District, recently transferred 13,803 square feet of TDR at $30.79/sf with previous sales at $25/sf and $10/sf for a total of 38,803 sf of TDR for $1,063,944.

San Francisco authorized the sale of up to 1.2 million square feet of City Hall TDR in 2021, with an initial offering price of $37.50/sf. City reports confirm completed War Memorial TDR sales at $35/sf in May 2020 and cumulative sales of approximately 1.075 million square feet for $32.05 million by October 2021. These are historical benchmarks; recent transfer records from 2026 have been identified, but their prices have not yet been verified.

235 Front Street

$1,063,944 for historic preservation

Zero loss of building potential


Case Studies

Old St. Mary’s Cathedral

660-680 California Street

Although an important historic resource, Old St. Mary’s was ineligible to generate TDR because of its location in the Chinatown Visitor Retail (CVR) Zoning District. The City re-zoned the property and amended the General Plan to change the zoning from CVR to C-3-O, thus making the property eligible for the TDR program. In 2010, the SF Planning Department certified 171,567 TDR for Old St. Mary’s. Fortress Properties entered into an option agreement with Old St. Mary’s to purchase all the property’s certified TDR at $18 per TDR. A later transfer of a portion of the Old St. Mary’s TDR was sold at $24 per sf of TDR, with proceeds of $18 per sf of TDR paid to Old St. Mary’s and the remaining $6 per sf of TDR to Fortress Properties.

Up to $3,088,000 for historic preservation

Zero loss of building potential


Case Studies

St. Boniface Church and Rectory

This precedent is another example of expanding zoning boundaries but the treatment of the church and rectory property within the same action on a parcel. The City legislatively rezoned the parcel from RC-4 to C-3-G, specifically so the properties would become eligible to participate in the TDR program and TDR certification occurred for all historic buildings for 116,573 TDR. SF Planning expressly stated that participation in the TDR program would provide funds for restoration and upkeep and the Historic Preservation Commission found that TDR participation could help preserve the landmark and maintain the church’s religious and community mission. TDR transfers were priced at $22.75 and $22 per sf of TDR.

133-135 Golden Gate Avenue

Up to $2,652,000 for historic preservation

Zero loss of building potential


Case Studies

Notre Dame des Victoires Church and Rectory

564-566 Bush Street

Notre Dame des Victoires provides an important parcel-level precedent beyond the preservation aspects of a historic religious institution. TDR certification and transfer treated the church and rectory parcels separately, independently certifying TDR on each parcel (54,930 for the church and 15,402 for the rectory) and then having the entire 70,332 sf of TDR allocation transferred together. This demonstrates that faith-based institutions can realize value from unused development capacity while preserving their historic religious facilities, but also why parcel configuration require individual analysis if lot splits or multiple buildings are on the same parcel.


Case Studies

St. Patrick’s Church

756 Mission Street

St. Patrick’s Church is located within San Francisco's downtown preservation district and is an individually designated historic resource, making it eligible as a preservation/transfer lot under the City’s TDR program, but it is also a useful case study of the complexity of the TDR program as it currently exists. The Mission Street corridor development illustrates both the potential and administrative complexity within a single block. Historic institutions such as St. Patrick’s Church, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, and neighboring preservation properties have participated in or benefited from the City’s TDR framework, helping channel development value toward the preservation of significant religious, cultural, and civic properties, but the City’s own TDR inventory documents 186,590 square feet of certified TDR originating from 748 Mission Street, while the Contemporary Jewish Museum project assembled and transferred 236,000 square feet of development rights to support multiple downtown developments. Despite the significance of these transactions, information about eligible properties, certified rights, transfer history, remaining inventory, and current market value remains fragmented across SF Planning files that are distributed across records that vary in completeness, format, and public accessibility, disparate legislative actions, and fragmented recorded documents that may not, standing alone, provide a complete transaction history.


~3M sf of TDR Have Been Sold in San Francisco

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