Mayor Mark Farrell, the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD), the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), United Educators of San Francisco (UESF) and Supervisor Katy Tang today announced the selection of the development team for the City’s first affordable housing development created specifically for SFUSD educators. 

“We have some of the best educators in the country at SFUSD, and we want them to be able to live in the communities they serve every day,” said Mayor Farrell. “We are moving one step closer to building quality affordable housing for our San Francisco educators, who play such an important role in the lives of our children and the vitality of our entire City.”

The new community, which will include more than 100 apartments for educators, will be built at SFUSD’s Francis Scott Key Annex, at 1351 42^nd Avenue in the Outer Sunset neighborhood.

A panel composed of MOHCD, SFUSD, the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure (OCII) and community members selected MidPen Housing as the developer for the project through a competitive Request for Proposals selection process. MidPen and its consultant team have experience building educator housing, mixed-income housing and affordable housing of all types, including San Francisco developments.

A collaborative effort between the City, SFUSD and UESF led to the achievement of this important milestone. Next steps for the project include community engagement on the building’s design and programs. 

“I am thrilled that the City’s first educator housing project will take place in the Sunset District,” said Supervisor Tang. “I look forward to working with our valued San Francisco educators, residents, and community leaders to ensure that this is a project that works for everyone.”

“SFUSD and UESF have been tremendous partners in this great effort,” said Kate Hartley, MOHCD Director.  “We’ll be moving full speed ahead in our continued work to bring great teacher housing to San Francisco, and look forward to benefitting from MidPen’s experience and expertise.”

By facilitating this educator housing development, the City is supporting SFUSD and its teachers. The site will offer affordable apartments for teachers and paraeducators employed by SFUSD and represented by UESF at a broad range of income levels, from 50 percent to 120 percent of area median income (AMI).

"We're thrilled to reach this important milestone in the effort to build housing for our educators," said SFUSD Superintendent Dr. Vincent Matthews. "We know that California and the nation as a whole continues to experience a teacher shortage, and that San Francisco is one of the most expensive cities in the country. This effort puts San Francisco at the forefront of working to address both the nationwide teacher shortage and the enormous cost of living here, and shows that we're dedicated to doing everything we can to attract and retain teachers."

“The union is pleased that we’re moving forward in the process of building educator housing,” UESF President Lita Blanc said. “We’re confident in the team picked by the panel, MidPen Housing. They are experienced in building educator housing in the Bay Area. We were also impressed with their track record with providing housing counseling, which resulted in homeownership for tenants. This project remains only one piece of our push for affordable housing for our educators and the families they serve. We are committed to working with the City, district and community in solving the affordability crisis.”

“I’m excited that the City, SFUSD and UESF are working collaboratively to move this important project forward quickly,” said Board of Education President Hydra Mendoza-McDonnell. “The district is committed to exploring every possible way to attract and retain teachers, including building teacher housing, increasing salaries and support for new teachers.”