The Mission Housing Development Corp. and BRIDGE Housing held a virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday morning for the 100 percent affordable building the developers recently completed at 1950 Mission St.
La Fénix, as the developers dubbed the project, contains 157 units and is the largest fully affordable housing project expected to open in the Mission this year.
The nine-story building holds 32 studios, 36 one-bedroom units, 73 two-bedroom units and 14 three-bedroom units, as well as two three-bedroom units for management. The space’s ground-floor commercial spaces are still receiving the finishing touches. Once complete, they will house a childhood center and an artist gallery and workspace.
Twenty percent of the units are reserved for previously unhoused residents, according to Sam Moss, the executive director of Mission Housing. The remainder are for residents who make 45 to 60 percent of the area median income, which is $40,350 to $53,800 for a single person, $46,125 to $61,500 for a family of two and $57,650 to $64,050 for a family of four.
Approximately 50 families have already moved in, and Moss expects the building to be fully occupied by the summer.
“There would typically be a move-in day where entire floors get moved in, but that’s not possible now,” Moss said, explaining how the pandemic has slowed the building’s progress.
“But we’ll get there. Better safe than sorry,” Moss said.
The virtual ceremony, streamed live online, included speeches from Moss, Mission Housing’s deputy executive director Marcia Contreras, Roberto Hernandez from Carnaval, District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen, Mayor London Breed and others.
“1950 Mission is, without exaggeration, a dream come true,” Ronen said.
Breed, during her remarks, said “La Fénix” was the perfect name for the building.
“The phoenix, the symbol of San Francisco to rise again and currently, under this pandemic, after being sheltered in place for over a year, we are emerging stronger,” Breed said.
Two blocks over, at 490 South Van Ness Ave., residents are moving into another Mission Housing and BRIDGE Housing co-development. That 80-unit project is also completely affordable, and Moss expects to host a ceremony for that building in the near future.
Another 314 units across three fully affordable housing projects are expected to become available later this year.
1458 San Bruno Ave.
The Goode family, which has owned the land at 1458 San Bruno Ave., near Potrero Skatepark, for decades, is holding its second community meeting on Tuesday, April 20, at 6 p.m.
When Christopher Goode held the first community meeting to present the plans for his seven-story building, residents and local activists showed up in droves to oppose the project.
Since then, the design has undergone a few changes, mostly to comply with local codes, but the building’s affordability level and unit breakdown, the aspects that most concerned residents, have not changed much.
The number of affordable units also grew from 22 to 28, 12 percent of the whole building. And plans for the project now list the number of units at 232, up from the previously proposed 205, after developers applied California’s Density Bonus Program. Plans still call for a 60/40 split between studios and two-bedroom units.
The rest of the units will rent for market rates, which opponents say will price out Mission residents. Check out our real estate data tracker to stay up to date on the fluctuations in housing prices during the pandemic.
While the last meeting was held in person, this meeting will be virtual due to the pandemic. See the meeting participation information below:
New Mission Kids Center
Mission Kids preschool announced its official reopening on Friday after moving to a newly constructed center at 969 Treat Ave., between 22nd and 23rd streets.
The preschool will now be able to serve 100 families, double the capacity of their previous location, within St. Mary and St. Martha Church building on South Van Ness Avenue, according to Mission Kids director Christina Maluenda Marchiel.
The facility currently serves 65 families, but will expand as pandemic restrictions are gradually lifted, Marchiel said. She anticipates the center will reach full enrollment by the fall.
About six years ago, the church where Mission Kids was operating informed Marchiel that they would not extend their lease, prompting a search for what Marchiel called their “forever home.”
“Competing in the open market is difficult, as a nonprofit,” Marchiel said, “so we were just so very lucky to find a spot at the end of 2016.”
San Francisco’s Child Care Facilities Fund contributed $2.5 million toward the center’s construction, and various other city organizations and grants collectively contributed another roughly $3.5 million for the nearly $10 million project.
“It’s exciting to be able to serve children in a building that was made and designed for them,” Marchiel said.
This will become a hub for crime