900 Affordable Housing Units on Multiple Sites Planned by San Francisco

"A decade-long push by [San Francisco] officials to pressure office and market-rate developers to carve out land for affordable housing is starting to pay off," reports J.K. Dineen.

The Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development recently announced its selection of affordable housing development partners "to construct nearly 900 units on nine sites scattered around the city, with the majority concentrated in the South of Market where the tech boom of the 2010s was most prominent," according to Dineen. The nine project sites were announced in a request for qualifications published by the city in November 2020.

A press release from the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development describes the development projects as a "key pillar of the Mayor’s COVID-19 recovery strategy" that "will be crucial to revitalizing the City’s economy while addressing the community’s need for new housing."

"The nine sites span numerous neighborhoods in the City including 967 Mission Street, which is part of the SoMa 5M development plan, and 772 Pacific Avenue in Chinatown, the former home of New Asia restaurant which will be the first new 100% affordable housing development in that neighborhood in over two decades. 1939 Market Street, located on the border of the Castro and Upper Market neighborhoods, will add critical LGBT+ affirming senior housing," adds the press release.

According to Dineen, all of the projects are expected to achieve affordability at 60% of the San Francisco Area Median Income, which is currently $79,000 for a family of four.

While the projects are still conceptual, so a precise number of units are still unavailable, all of the sites are anticipated to qualify for ministerial approvals from the Planning Department through SB35, which may be used in conjunction with the State Density Bonus Program or the Affordable Housing Density Bonus Program.