The really insane/interesting part is:

What Mahmood learned was that San Francisco’s building code, unlike the state regulations, requires projects to conform to the building code on the books at the time they break ground, rather than the codes in place when the application is filed.

Given the infamously lengthy permitting process, the developers are caught in a surreal catch-22 loop:

• Design the thing conforming to current code,
• Long permitting process,
• Design is now out of code which changed during the permitting process and needs to be redesigned
• Long permitting process,
• Rinse, repeat