A San Francisco University Just Built Over 650 Affordable Units. Are Institutions the Answer to the Housing Crisis?

A project known as Academic Village — a shared campus for multiple universities in the middle of San Francisco — offers “a powerful new approach to the city’s housing crisis,” according to an opinion piece by Rhiannon Ballard and Anders Carpenter in the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Academic Village demonstrates how anchor institutions — including universities, hospitals, major nonprofits and aligned employers — can work together to address housing needs without competing for limited real estate or displacing existing communities.

Institutions including UC College of the Law SF, UCSF, San Francisco State, private not-for-profit institutions and the California Community Colleges have collaborated to build affordable housing for students and staff on the site. One 656-unit building reserved for students and employees has 85 percent occupancy, while an additional 280 beds are scheduled to open by fall 2027.

“These new units are specifically designed to meet the unique needs of community college and undergraduate students, many of whom are already part of San Francisco’s workforce.” This includes dorm-style units to larger two- and three-bedroom units for families. 

The authors explain why institutions like universities are uniquely positioned to build housing. For example, they have access to planning tools not available to private developers such as leave-revenue bonds and tax-exempt debt. “By pooling resources and aligning with state funding priorities, higher education institutions can act faster, absorb risk more effectively and deliver affordability at scale.”

The authors note that this model could be expanded beyond academic institutions to hospitals, cultural organizations, and childcare centers. City governments can offer tools to enable co-development and reward cross-sector collaboration with incentives.