FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, 415-554-6131

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MAYOR LONDON BREED ANNOUNCES NEW UNITS ADDED TO CITY’S AFFORDABLE HOUSING STOCK
Purchase of 4830 Mission Street ensures twenty one units of housing are now permanently affordable

San Francisco, CA– Mayor London N. Breed announced the purchase of 4830 Mission Street, the latest acquisition in an effort to prevent tenant displacement and create new permanent affordable housing.

The four story property located in the Excelsior District contains 21 housing units and six active commercial spaces, including several multi-generational families with children and seniors. The purchase of 4830 Mission Street is in partnership with the San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund, a private lender working in concert with the City to achieve the City’s affordable housing goals. This is the first acquisition in District 11 through this public-private partnership, which will add to the City’s affordable “Small Sites” housing stock.

The building had previously not been subject to rent control or just cause eviction protections, but now will be permanently affordable housing under the Small Sites program.

“San Francisco is in a housing crisis that is driving up rents and resulting in displacement of our low and middle-income communities across the City,” said Mayor Breed. “We must create more housing, and we must do so while protecting existing tenants. This Small Sites purchase will ensure 21 families and six local small businesses are stabilized, keeping them in our community.”

The Small Sites program began in 2014 to prevent displacement and eviction of low-income tenants in small properties that are often vulnerable to market pressure by removing them from the speculative market. The program is administered by the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development. To date, 26 buildings consisting of 184 units have been acquired, 11 buildings with 134 total units are in the pipeline, and $102.5 million of City funds have been committed.

“I am deeply committed to helping stabilize our immigrant and working families living in the heart of the Excelsior who fear displacement. Our housing crisis is real. When I was presented with the opportunity to do just that, I jumped on it,” said Supervisor Ahsha Safaí. “The 21 tenants at 4830 Mission Street will not only get to stay at the place they have always called home but have also helped the City trail blaze a new path by purchasing the largest and first-ever non-rent-controlled building. I want to thank the Mayor’s Office, the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, MEDA, SF HAF, PODER, and SOMCAN for their unwavering commitment to the families that make-up District 11’s rich tapestry of cultures.”

The SF Housing Accelerator Fund (SFHAF) is providing its largest loan ever, $13.2 million, to facilitate the purchase. SFHAF is a public-private partnership designed to provide mission-driven developers with nimble and flexible capital to acquire buildings and land for affordable housing in San Francisco. It launched in 2017 at the request of the late Mayor Ed Lee with start-up capital provided by Citi Community Development and has invested $49.7 million so far to preserve and create over 240 units of affordable housing and has stabilized rent for 184 residents with an average household income of 79% AMI.

Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to strengthen low and moderate-income Latino families by promoting economic equity and social justice through asset building and community development. They have partnered with the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development on numerous Small Site acquisitions.

"The purchase at non-rent-controlled 4830 Mission St. proves that the Small Sites program is not solely a means to preserve affordable housing—it can actually create affordable housing,” said Karoleen Fong, MEDA Director of Community Real Estate. “MEDA is excited to have expanded this program into the Excelsior District and seeks the support to scale into other San Francisco neighborhoods."

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