In many ways, the former Big Lots store site, which is set to house an affordable senior apartment complex, is unconventional. It is on a hill, it is L-shaped, it spans two parking lots and it includes an empty retail space the size of a large supermarket in an existing 16,000-square-foot building.
But that hasn’t deterred the Bernal Heights Housing Corporation, a nonprofit housing developer, from taking on a creative challenge. In December, the organization filed an application for plans to turn the site, at 3333 Mission St. near Virginia Avenue, into an affordable senior-housing complex with 70 units.
Under the proposed plans, most of the building’s 70 units will be available for residents earning between 30 percent and 80 percent of the area median income, or between $30,250 and $80,700 a year for a single resident. A smaller subset, 20 percent, will be available to those earning between 80 and 120 percent of the area median income, or between $80,700 and $121,000, for a single resident.
“I have been told that there is no easy project left in San Francisco,” said Gina Dacus, the nonprofit’s executive director. “We are excited to be part of revitalizing the neighborhood,” she added, referring to the area along the Mission corridor in Bernal Heights.
The nonprofit, with a loan from the Low Income Investment Fund, a nonprofit that invests in affordable housing, purchased the property last month. The Assessor’s Office estimated that it was purchased for around $2,050,000, based on the property’s transfer tax.
The plans are currently under review by the city, and should be returned by the summer, as the project is seeking streamlined approval; Senate Bill 35 expedites the planning approval process for affordable housing. The project is also applying for a density bonus, hoping to bypass the area’s zoning restrictions and accommodate more units.
The building will consist of an L-shaped structure in place of what are two perpendicular parking lots, on two separate stories, as the site is on a hill. The new, multi-story structure will wrap around another existing residential complex at the site, which is also a senior housing complex owned by the Bernal Heights Housing Corporation.
The former Big Lots site is the second the nonprofit is currently developing along the corridor. Across the road at 3300 Mission Street, the nonprofit is developing 35 units of affordable housing, where a five-alarm blaze ravaged a hotel and the 3300 Club. Construction on that site is expected to begin in December 2024, according to Dacus.
Ana Herrera, a legislative aide for Supervisor Hillary Ronen, said their office is “supportive and excited.” They have received complaints from local residents about the vacant commercial space, and the “blight” that such a space can bring, Herrera said.
“Bernal Heights is very supportive of affordable housing,” said Herrera.
The 49 units in the existing residential building will remain and, through this development, will gain direct access to Mission Street. Currently, residents have to walk around the block from Coleridge Street to access the corridor.
On the Coleridge Street side of the lot, the existing pocket park, which has been closed for several years due to tree roots lifting the pavement off the ground, will be redeveloped and opened to the public. Throughout the development, the organization said it will seek input and feedback from the community, said Dacus.
“We can’t solve all of San Francisco, but we can make an impact in Bernal,” said Dacus.
Why all the parking? There are lots of buses on that street. Instead, the could build more units and have some green space or garden plots. Parking adds 10s of thousands in expense for each unit.
The state density bonus reduces parking minimums for the development by up to 50% https://sfplanning.org/sites/default/files/forms/StateAnalyzed_SupplementalApplication.pdf
Excellent news. Also one more reason to revive the prospect of an infill 30th St Mission BART station, an excellent value for money with a price per rider far lower than BART’s recent suburban extensions. It should have been built when the idea was studied 20 years ago, but the second best time is now.
The story is confusing implying that 3300 Mission was razed in a fire. It was damaged and appears to be under some kind of reconstruction.
Affordable housing doesn’t work for those who need it. You enter a lottery ana wait for years to even qualify, then you can’t afford it if you’re disabled or poor. The average apt is 330 square feet and appx $1500. This is too much of you’re living on $28,000 yearly…
But what else can you reasonably expect? So-called “affordable housing” is really subsidized housing. In other words your rent or mortgage is partly paid by other SF residents.
So why is it so important to us that you are able to live in a highly desirable and expensive city that you clearly cannot afford?
I enjoy the implication that it IS important to you that they are able to live in this highly desirable and expensive city (that perhaps they were born in. I don’t know)
So why IS it important to you, and to the health of a city, to have an economically diverse population?