News Releases
The latest news and announcements from Mayor London N. Breed

Mayor Lee Highlights Housing Progress in Transbay & Citywide

Transbay Housing Progress Will Ensure City Reaches Ambitious Goal to Create 30,000 New & Rehabilitated Homes by 2020; As Many Units Have Been Completed in First Six Months of 2014 as All of 2013

Mayor Edwin M. Lee today highlighted the housing progress in the Transbay Transit Center District ensuring San Francisco’s housing goal of 30,000 new and rehabilitated homes in the City by 2020, with at least one-third of those permanently affordable, and the majority within financial reach of the middle class remains on track.

“We are making measurable progress toward our ambitious 2020 housing goals, to build and rehabilitate more urgently-needed housing now and ensure that the majority of that housing is within reach of lower-income and middle class families,” said Mayor Lee. “As construction of the Transbay Transit Center progresses, we are beginning to achieve the vision of a vibrant mixed-use residential neighborhood where San Franciscans across the economic spectrum can afford to call home. Working together, we must recommit and redouble our efforts to expedite the construction of new housing at every level so we can continue investing in affordable and middle class housing.”

In the first six months of 2014, 2,290 new housing units received occupancy permits from the Department of Building Inspection, with 379 of those units provided as permanently affordable units, including over 220 units provided directly through the City’s Inclusionary Housing Program. Adding in the Bayview Gardens, 474 Natoma and Rene Cazanave affordable apartments that opened to residents in the beginning of the year, a grand total of 2,543 housing units opened to provide new homes to families in San Francisco, with 25 percent of those units permanently affordable to low-income households. As many units have been completed in the first six months of 2014 as were completed than in all of 2013.

A significant amount of the planned 4,400 homes in the Transbay Transit Center will be accessible to San Francisco’s low and moderate income families. By 2020, more than 1,100 new affordable new homes will be developed in the Transbay Transit Center for San Francisco families.  These new affordable homes will help ensure that our City reaches our ambitious goal of creating 30,000 new and rehabilitated homes by 2020.  Some key milestones in the area’s transformation to a residential neighborhood are the following:
•    Completed in late 2013, Rene Cazenave Apartments was the first residential building to open in the Transbay Redevelopment Area. It now provides 120 units of very low-income supportive services housing for formerly homeless individuals. The project was developed by a collaboration of Community Housing Partnership and Bridge Housing Corporation.
•    At Block 6 (bounded by Folsom, Clementina, Beale and Fremont Streets), 70 very low-income affordable apartments and 409 market rate apartments are currently under construction. The project is being developed by Golub and Mercy Housing California and completion is estimated in 2015.
•    At Block 9 (at the northwest corner of Folsom and First Street), 109 very low-income affordable rental apartments for families and 436 market rate units are in the predevelopment phase. This project will include shared open spaces and amenities and retail along Folsom street. The project is being developed by Avant and Bridge Housing Corporation and completion is estimated by 2016.
•    At Block 7 (bounded by Clementina, Beale and Fremont), 85 very low-income affordable rental apartments for families are in the predevelopment phase and will include a 4,500 square foot childcare center. The project is being developed by Mercy Housing California and completion is estimated in 2017.
•    At Block 8 (bounded by First, Fremont, Folsom and Clementina Streets), 177 very low-income affordable rental apartments for families and 476 market rate units are in the predevelopment phase.  The project is being developed by Related California Urban Housing and Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation and completion is estimated in 2018.
•    Other Transbay sites to be developed toward residential use include Blocks 1, 2, 4, and 12.  Blocks 1 and 4 will include a combination of market rate and affordable housing and Blocks 2 and 12 will each be 100 percent affordable for San Francisco families.

The Transbay Redevelopment Plan requires that 35 percent of all new housing units built in the Project Area must be affordable to very low to moderate income households. In addition, all market-rate parcels are required to provide 15 percent on-site inclusionary affordable housing. Overall housing production in Transbay is on track to surpass its mandated thresholds.

The Transbay Redevelopment Project Area was created in 2005 to revitalize an area that at that time was comprised of an underutilized and outdated transportation facility presenting transportation deficiencies, and health and safety issues to its surrounding neighborhoods. The adoption of the Redevelopment Area made tax increment available to rebuild the outdated station and revitalize the area with up to 4,400 units of new housing, nearly 1,000 hotel rooms, 100,000 square feet of retail space, several million square feet of offices and 11 acres of public parks.