Construction for a new city-funded affordable housing development on Valencia Street kicked off on Tuesday, drawing Mayor London Breed and other city officials to the site for a celebration.
This will be the first project funded by the Bay Area Housing Innovation Fund, a $50 million pool geared towards accelerating affordable housing developments in the city. According to a July 23 press release from Breed’s office, the space will be five stories tall and will offer 145-units to low-income San Franciscans over 55.
“Building more housing is at the heart of our work to ensure our residents, including vulnerable populations like our seniors, can afford to live in this city,” Breed said in the press release about the 1633 Valencia St. development.
The city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing partnered with Mercy Housing California, a nonprofit housing developer, to develop the site.
“We have heavy equipment there and have already broken ground,” said Rosalyn Sternberg, Mercy Housing’s regional communications manager. “We’re expecting a quick build.”
The contracted city-based construction team, which spent the day leveling the site that was once a Sears parking lot, expects to finish by December 2025, with move-in dates in May 2026.
The housing will serve seniors at risk of homelessness, or those earning up to 50 percent of the local median income: $52,450 for a single person, and $74,950 for a family of four. According to the press release, residents will not be required to pay more than 30 percent of their income in rent.
“Many people would be ashamed or surprised to learn the average age for people experiencing homelessness,” Sternberg said, highlighting the importance of providing shelter for the most vulnerable in the city.
The majority of unhoused people in the city are over 40, and many are chronically homeless, or have lived without a permanent home for more than a year, according to the 2019 San Francisco Homeless Count and Survey.
Beyond the apartment units, the residence will feature a first-floor lobby and other common spaces including a community room, two offices, a supportive services space and bike parking.
“With close proximity to a drugstore, public transit, groceries and a hospital, older adults will be empowered to age in place safely and comfortably for years to come,” said Shireen McSpadden, the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing executive director, in the press release.
With a $580,000 price tag per unit, the project is also backed by the city’s Local Operating Subsidy Program, which has pledged $80.7 million over the next 19 years towards homeless housing. The Adult Coordinated Entry Access Point run by Mission Action (formerly Dolores Street Community Services) has also partnered with the city to set up referrals to fill the units once the build is complete.
“Our community’s unhoused seniors deserve to age well in dignified housing,” Supervisor Hillary Ronen said in the press release, adding that “145 homeless seniors will soon have compassionate, permanent, and supportive housing right in the middle of District 9.”
Thanks for reporting on this new housing for seniors. Of every population out there, seniors are the most concerning to me.
I have read so much lately about the increase in unhoused boomers all over the country. So many over 60 who lose their homes due to reasons far more pedestrian-seeming than addiction: health crises and supports that cost more than Medicare pays (dental, vision, and often medication are not covered by cheaper or free plans), not having enough retirement saved, receiving far less Social Security than was assumed, retiring with crushing medical and revolving debt, etc.
No judgement on these folks, it is just a big mess that I fear is only going to get worse in the coming 10-15 years.
Where is 1633 Valencia? In a city where each street has it’s own numbering, just giving the address is not very helpful to readers.
A cursory Google search informs that it is on Valencia between Cesar Chavez and Duncan near the Eagle Rider Motorcycle establishment.
Welcome to the internet where most random questions can be solved with just a few quick keystrokes! We also offer up-to-the-minute sports results and free pornography if you enjoy either of those hobbies.
Are you really that thick? You don’t know how to enter the address into a search engine? Yet you have the energy, capability and desire to comment here? You are what is wrong with this city.
Thanks for the comment, and I agree. Naming a cross street takes just a few words, and it lets me immediately place the location on my mental map of the city, putting it in context.
Before even seeing this comment, I did actually pull up a map on my phone and find the address. If the article had said it was by Cesar Chavez, I’d have known where it is without having to do that.
It’s weird there are haters over this. Plenty of other details in this article are also easy to find in a Google search. They’re here because (as ML’s esteemed journalists understand perfectly well) part of journalism is providing relevant context for a story.