San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed and the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) announced today that the City, in partnership with Tenderloin Housing Clinic (THC), is reopening the Abigail Hotel as a Step Up Housing site. The Abigail will provide 59 units of housing for adults successfully transitioning from Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) to affordable housing, with a more independent living model.

“Throughout the pandemic, San Francisco has provided emergency housing and shelter for thousands of unhoused people, and as we continue to move forward with our City’s recovery, we need to do all that we can to ensure that those same people have access to permanent housing,” said Mayor Breed. “We know that housing is the solution to homelessness, and the Abigail Hotel will provide people with histories of homelessness with a permanent place to live and will allow people newly transitioning off the streets access to supportive housing.”

The Abigail Hotel was one of the first Shelter-In-Place (SIP) sites opened during the COVID-19 Pandemic, sheltering Transitional Aged Youth (TAY). It was demobilized as a SIP site on June 30, 2021, to transition to its current status as a Step Up Housing site. All rooms at the Abigail have a private bathroom, and the building includes a spacious lobby and community room as well as a state-of-the-art kitchen. Tenderloin Housing Clinic will manage the site, offering case management services five days a week for the independent living residents.

For more information about the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, visit their website here: www.thclinic.org/   

“It’s exciting to see another of the SIP Hotels continue to be a part of the city’s long-term strategy to help keep all of our residents housed,” said District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney. “The Abigail Hotel will provide step up housing for those who have graduated from permanent supportive housing and can live more independently. By providing more of these housing opportunities for our city’s most vulnerable residents, we are establishing an essential piece of the framework that will help us finally get a handle on our homelessness crisis.”

“We are excited to transition The Abigail Hotel to step up housing,” said San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing executive director, Shireen McSpadden. “As people progress into step up housing they free up much needed spots in permanent supportive housing for vulnerable people in need of their first home or first home in a long time.”

“This opening marks the historic return of the Abigail Hotel to permanent housing for low-income San Franciscans,” said Randy Shaw, executive director of Tenderloin Housing Clinic. “Forty years ago, tenants fought to keep the Abigail an affordable, residential SRO. Thanks to Mayor Breed and HSH their mission has now been accomplished.” 

Step Up Housing, which is part of the City’s Homeless Response System, offers opportunities for residents of Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) to move from intensive supportive housing to more independent living. By joining the program, tenants make their PSH unit available for other people experiencing homelessness. The City currently operates nearly 400 units of Step Up Housing for adults and families.

For more information on San Francisco’s Homeless Response System, and the Housing Ladder Program, visit: hsh.sfgov.org/services/the-homelessness-response-system/housing-ladder/  

The reopening of the Abigail Hotel is part of Mayor Breed’s larger plan to address homelessness in San Francisco. Mayor Breed’s strategy includes her Homelessness Recovery Plan, which will expand the City’s Homelessness Response System and seek to acquire or lease 1,500 new units of PSH in the next two years, the largest one-time expansion in the City in 20 years.

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