Tax-Cut Demands Are Exacerbating San Francisco’s Property Woes

Owners of San Francisco’s office towers, shopping centers, hotels and homes are flooding the county with appeals to slash their property assessments — and tax payments — as real estate prices sink in the beleaguered city.

Some of the world’s biggest landlords, including Brookfield Corp. and Blackstone Inc., have filed for assessment cuts. The volume of such appeals have doubled in the three years since the pandemic. Assessments for this fiscal year went out in early July, and new appeals are expected to surge before a Sept. 15 deadline to request reductions.

“It’s like drinking from a fire hose,” said Mark ...