San Francisco attempts to meet the need for low income housing
The Unity Coalition has strongly supported the construction of far more low-income and supportive housing in our City because it is clear that all people deserve to live in a safe and secure place. That is especially challenging in the city in America with the highest cost of living. And of course Covid exacerbated the shortage of housing as people lost their jobs and their homes. Far too little housing of all kinds has been built in San Francisco over the last 40 years and we have struggled to find neighborhoods that welcomed low-income housing.
Mayor Breed and some supervisors, realizing the needs and the challenges, have pushed very hard for more low-income housing and we are beginning to see an increase in low income being developed and completed. With estimates of the number of homeless people living in San Francisco (and other California cities) growing significantly every year, it is about time!
Mercy Housing just built a 12-story apartment house at 10th Street & Mission containing 136 units for families, including 44 units of permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless families. The building will contain a 5,000 square foot Youth/Family Center, after offer both after school programming and family support programming, as well as support services offered by Catholic Charities CYO.
Within the next few weeks, families will begin to move into 143 homes at Casa Adelante at 2628 16th Street in the Mission. The 143 units of affordable housing will be targeted for families earning between 30% - 60% of the average wages in our area. The building will feature a roof outdoor space with agricultural programming offered in order to teach residents how to grow healthy fruits and vegetables.
An apartment building for 260 unhoused people is being built by the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation at 555 Larkin Street with studios, 1,2, and 3-bedroom units. The building will emphasize the health and welfare of tenants and have supportive services when it opens in 2022.
Almost completed is an affordable apartment at Folsom and Dore for 98 formerly unhoused people. Supportive services will be available for resident when the project opens in 2022. Also scheduled to open in 2022 is 78 Haight, with 63 units of which 30 units will be for transitional aged youth and the remaining 33 units for low-income adults.
The Filipino Heritage District in Central SOMA will be getting an affordable apartment building at 725 Harrison Street.
In just a few weeks construction will begin at 921 Howard Street on 203 multi-family houses, one of the largest affordable housing projects in San Francisco in the last 10 years. This 18-story project will cover 205,000 square feet and will be a family friendly mixed-use building with onsite social workers helping to build a support network for tenants. A majority of the units will be a and 2-bedroom units. Residents are expected to move in in the spring of 2023.
Of note is that the Board of Supervisors just voted unanimously to approve the purchase and pre-development funding for an affordable housing project in the Sunset neighborhood at 2550 Irving. The City has struggled for many years to develop projects in the Sunset neighborhood.
This is an incomplete list, but we wanted our members to be aware that there is progress being made to provide sufficient low-income housing to meet the enormous needs. That said, we still have a long way to go. The Unity Coalition must keep the pressure on our elected officials to keep developing new housing for low-income residents. Keep in mind that the number of incarcerated people being released from prison is expected to grow significantly in the next few years. The two most important factors in not returning to prison are having a good job that pays adequately and a safe place to live.