San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed has nominated Derek Flores to serve as the newest member of the Planning Commission. Flores, 33, has extensive experience with creating new housing both in San Francisco and across the state, particularly multi-family units and Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs).
Flores is a native San Franciscan who was raised in the Richmond District and now lives a few blocks from where he grew up, with his fiancée Christina. Flores has previously worked for NASA and Lockheed Martin Space Systems as an engineer. He is currently the President of Development and Construction at Tesseract Capital Group (TCG), where he utilizes his expertise as a general contractor to develop and renovate multi-family housing units.
“I am proud to nominate Derek Flores to serve on the Planning Commission because he represents a viewpoint that is too often missing from the discussion of housing in San Francisco,” said Mayor Breed. “Derek grew up here, and through his work he knows both how complicated we make it to create new homes and the effect that has on young families, longtime residents, and our low- and middle-income communities. I am confident that he will help our City improve our housing process as we work to address this crisis.”
In 2018, Flores and his team successfully completed the process of building two additional ADUs in a 6-unit apartment building in the Richmond District, which served as a crash-course in the intricacies and complexities of the requirements set forth by the various City departments charged with regulating ADU construction.
“It is truly an honor to be nominated to the San Francisco Planning Commission by Mayor Breed,” said Flores. “As a third-generation San Franciscan, I’ve seen the City change dramatically over the decades. Serving on the Planning Commission will allow me to help guide the direction of development in our City for generations to come and to give back to the community that not only raised me, but has continued to give me so much over the years. As a Commissioner, I will leverage my experience in creating housing while balancing it with empathy for those who call San Francisco home. I will work alongside the community and City leaders to identify opportunities to build more affordable housing, and guide responsible growth so that people from all backgrounds and income levels have the opportunity to live, work, and thrive in our beautiful city.”
Flores is a third generation Chinese-American. He attended Alamo Elementary School, Presidio Middle School, and Washington High School. He graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California Berkeley, and later earned a Masters in Product Development Engineering from the University of Southern California.