88 Broadway development site/Google Maps screenshot
The developers for a sizable affordable housing project in San Francisco’s northeast waterfront have been selected, while amendments to the city’s inclusionary housing requirements remain a hot topic.
BRIDGE Housing and John Stewart Co. have been selected by the city to develop a 182-unit project dubbed 88 Broadway. Of the units, 130 apartments will be reserved for families earning 50 percent to 120 percent of the area median income (AMI). The other 52 units will be for seniors earning 40 percent to 70 percent of AMI. Alocal operating support subsidy will allow 37 of the units to be set aside for formerly homeless households.
The proposed development also includes approximately 11,400 square feet of retail/commercial space, some of which will be occupied by a mixed-income childcare center operated by the YMCA of San Francisco.
Ties to the bay
Both BRIDGE and John Stewart have previous experience developing affordable housing in the Bay Area.
John Stewart recently built ‘North Beach Place,” a mixed-income project on Bay Street and previously constructed a total of 107 rentals at Hunters View, the pilot project under the HOPE SF program — a public housing redevelopment initiative. The latter project included 80 public housing replacement units and 27 affordable units financed by low income credits.
In early April, BRIDGE celebrated the opening of a 68-unit, affordable rental project on the shore of Oakland’s Lake Merritt. Weeks prior, the affordable developer also opened a 90-unit residential building that is part of the MacArthur Station development.
Inclusionary amendments
Selection of 88 Broadway’s developers comes at a time when the city is pushing for more affordable units. Earlier this week, the city’s Board of Supervisors approved inclusionary housing legislation that would allow the board to adjust developer requirements.
Under the city’s current inclusionary requirements, 12 percent of a project’s units must be below market rate, so long as the project features 10 or more units. Developers can also choose to pay a fee or build additional below market-rate units at another location.
The amendment would require residential projects that filed for approval in 2013 to set aside 13 percent of their units as affordable. If the project filed in 2014 or 2015, the unit requirement would rise to 13.5 percent and 14.5 percent.
Newly filed projects would be required to set aside 25 percent of their units as below market rate. The charter amendment will go into effect if voters approve Proposition C in June.
In early November, voters passed San Francisco’s largest ever housing bond, Proposition A, which authorizes a $310 million to construct and preserve low and middle-income homes.
