Mayor Lee Announces Small Sites Acquisition of 2840 Folsom Street & Stopping Speculation
Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced the acquisition and preservation of 2840 Folsom Street, a six-unit apartment building in the Mission District known as the Pigeon Palace. The project was acquired through the City’s Small Sites Program (SSP), which is currently funded through the voter-approved, 30-year $1.3 billion Housing Trust Fund. The SSP provides financing for the acquisition and rehabilitation of privately-owned properties in order to protect existing tenants from eviction, establish long-term affordability and stabilize neighborhoods.
“By protecting and preserving our City’s housing stock, we are stabilizing our diverse neighborhoods and expanding the safety net for tenants at risk of eviction and displacement through our successful Small Sites Program funded through the voter-approved Housing Trust Fund,” said Mayor Lee. “Real estate speculation and rising rents have contributed to the displacement of San Franciscans, and our program to purchase already occupied units can preserve their affordability over the long-term. We are creating certainty for our longtime San Francisco families and rent-controlled residents by ensuring they have a safe, affordable place to live. Introduced together with the Board of Supervisors, the $310 million affordable housing bond on this November’s ballot will give voters an opportunity to support another step toward creating more affordable housing for the future.”
The borrower of the 2840 Folsom Street Small Sites Program Acquisition and Rehabilitation Loan is the San Francisco Community Land Trust, a local nonprofit affordable housing developer. The City provided a total of $2.5 million in Housing Trust Fund money to acquire and rehabilitate the Pigeon Palace, which is currently rented by low- and moderate-income households who worked diligently to remain in their homes. Pigeon Palace is projected to become a Limited Equity Housing Cooperative (LEHC) in the next five to seven years, at which time the San Francisco Community Land Trust will continue to own the property, but its tenants will effectively become cooperative owners.
Since its inception in August 2014, the SSP has lent nearly $6.3 million to assist in the acquisition and rehabilitation of three buildings, resulting in the permanent stabilization of 30 residential units in the Tenderloin, Western Addition, Mission and Mission Dolores neighborhoods.
Moving well beyond its initial budget of $3 million as a pilot program, SSP is on track to preserve over 60 units in buildings across the City with over $20 million in City funds by the end of 2015. Housing acquired through the SSP will be permanently affordable for existing tenants and for many future generations of tenants.
The preservation of affordable housing at the Pigeon Palace through the Small Sites Program highlights the goals of the Mayor’s Mission Action Plan 2020, which is a collaboration between community organizations and the City to create more affordable housing and economic stability in the Mission District. Mayor Lee made a commitment to support longtime tenants in this highly-impacted neighborhood – many of whom are long-term contributors to the local world of art, AIDS activism, community organizing and alternative culture. Mission Action Plan 2020 will set affordable housing, jobs and small business targets and define housing and job solutions for neighborhood stability at various income levels for 2020 and beyond. The strategies may encompass land use and zoning, financing, identification of opportunity sites, and other community development programs, as well as monitoring mechanisms.
“By protecting and preserving our City’s housing stock, we are stabilizing our diverse neighborhoods and expanding the safety net for tenants at risk of eviction and displacement through our successful Small Sites Program funded through the voter-approved Housing Trust Fund,” said Mayor Lee. “Real estate speculation and rising rents have contributed to the displacement of San Franciscans, and our program to purchase already occupied units can preserve their affordability over the long-term. We are creating certainty for our longtime San Francisco families and rent-controlled residents by ensuring they have a safe, affordable place to live. Introduced together with the Board of Supervisors, the $310 million affordable housing bond on this November’s ballot will give voters an opportunity to support another step toward creating more affordable housing for the future.”
The borrower of the 2840 Folsom Street Small Sites Program Acquisition and Rehabilitation Loan is the San Francisco Community Land Trust, a local nonprofit affordable housing developer. The City provided a total of $2.5 million in Housing Trust Fund money to acquire and rehabilitate the Pigeon Palace, which is currently rented by low- and moderate-income households who worked diligently to remain in their homes. Pigeon Palace is projected to become a Limited Equity Housing Cooperative (LEHC) in the next five to seven years, at which time the San Francisco Community Land Trust will continue to own the property, but its tenants will effectively become cooperative owners.
Since its inception in August 2014, the SSP has lent nearly $6.3 million to assist in the acquisition and rehabilitation of three buildings, resulting in the permanent stabilization of 30 residential units in the Tenderloin, Western Addition, Mission and Mission Dolores neighborhoods.
Moving well beyond its initial budget of $3 million as a pilot program, SSP is on track to preserve over 60 units in buildings across the City with over $20 million in City funds by the end of 2015. Housing acquired through the SSP will be permanently affordable for existing tenants and for many future generations of tenants.
The preservation of affordable housing at the Pigeon Palace through the Small Sites Program highlights the goals of the Mayor’s Mission Action Plan 2020, which is a collaboration between community organizations and the City to create more affordable housing and economic stability in the Mission District. Mayor Lee made a commitment to support longtime tenants in this highly-impacted neighborhood – many of whom are long-term contributors to the local world of art, AIDS activism, community organizing and alternative culture. Mission Action Plan 2020 will set affordable housing, jobs and small business targets and define housing and job solutions for neighborhood stability at various income levels for 2020 and beyond. The strategies may encompass land use and zoning, financing, identification of opportunity sites, and other community development programs, as well as monitoring mechanisms.