The long-empty plot at 22nd and Mission streets, the site of a deadly 2015 fire, is one step closer to being developed as market-rate housing, prompting pushback from some who want 100 percent affordable housing on the site.
A notice posted on the fences surrounding the lot informed neighbors that the planning department has ruled that a 10-story, market-rate building proposal for 2588 Mission St. complies with building codes. This triggered an immediate reaction from one nonprofit developer.
“The San Francisco planning commission needs to do the right thing and exercise its discretion, which it’s proven time and time again it loves to do when it comes to market-rate housing,” said Sam Moss, executive director of Mission Housing and a long-time YIMBY. Moss thinks the owner of the property, Hawk Lou, should “do the right thing” and sell it to the city, so it can be developed into affordable housing.
In 2015, a fire caused by an electrical problem wrecked the three-story building that stood at 22nd and Mission. One resident, Mauricio Orellano, died, and many other residents and businesses were displaced, including Mission Local.
Following the fire, a Mission Local investigation found that the building did not have working smoke alarms, and that the property, as well as the 19 other buildings Lou owned, were not well-maintained.
Lou said that the fire started in a tenant’s kitchen, and blamed contractor Tommy Jue for the faulty smoke alarms, which he had set up in multiple city buildings, including at 2588 Mission. Jue was charged with fraud and grand theft by the district attorney in 2021.
The building, which housed many low-income tenants and Latinx-owned businesses, fell into disrepair after the fire, and burned two more times. In 2016, the city ordered it to be demolished, leaving behind the grassy crater that is there today.
Since then, Latinx and American Indian organizations have repeatedly pushed for the land to be sold to the city and developed into affordable housing, but Lou instead decided to build a market-rate complex. He is now one step closer to breaking ground.
Floor plans released with the notice show that the building will have 181 units with one or two bedrooms, ground-level retail, and a white and burgundy facade. Around 12 percent of the market-rate complex, 21 units, will be affordable, the minimum needed to qualify for the state’s “density bonus.” The bonus allows the building to add 50 percent more units.
The new notice informs neighbors about the project and gives them the opportunity to request a public hearing if they think there are “exceptional circumstances” that San Francisco’s planning commission should take into account before approving the project.
Neighbors and community groups have until August 23, 2024, to file a request for the planning commission to review the plans. After August 23, the planning commission will meet to discuss the requests and the plans. If the plans are approved, Lou could apply for a building permit and then break ground.
Many community members feel Lou is capitalizing off the tragedy. At a November meeting about the building plan, Mission residents and community leaders condemned the lack of affordable units, and accused Lou and his team of “profiteering” on the “blood” of Orellana.
At the November meeting, which Lou did not attend, and which was required by the city, the crowd also worried that the market-rate apartments would contribute to the Mission’s gentrification.
Lou’s two other market-rate proposals for the site also received community pushback. The current plan, which is larger and contains fewer affordable units than the previous plans, was announced in September 2023.
“I, for the life of me, can’t believe that someone is allowed to be so negligent that people die, and we’re just going to reward him with a giant luxury apartment building,” Moss said.
Fantastic to see more market rate housing! It is incredibly frustrating how SF has blocked market rate housing when the evidence proves time and time again that more inventory lowers the prices are the properties age. We need options for market rate housing to compete with the landlords who refuse to update dated properties across SF.
Do you say the same thing about Parcel K? Or did the denizens (and tourists) to that burgeoning libertarian tech utopia get to call the shots – there and in the Mission?
It could’ve been taller, but it’s sad that it takes a decade to build something.
I disagree with blocking projects because some people disagree with someone’s punishment. That ship has sailed the energy would be better spent beefing up the penalties instead.
While it would be great if Lou intended to build more than the minimum number of affordable units, this lot has sat empty for way too long. 21 affordable units is better than an empty lot and it is unrealistic to think he will sell the property to the city for 100% affordable development. Let’s get started and build some units! Maybe some collective action can get Lou to increase the number of affordable units…
If you can’t make a profit, why would you invest?
Unbelievable yet believable. Completely unacceptable and disgusting to award this cowardly, greedy man, Hawk Lou. I know what a real slumlord is, I have one. Someone died because of Lou’s negligence. He did nothing to properly maintain his run-down buildings. Affordable housing now! Affordable housing for everyone who needs it!
Hawk Lou should be in prison.
Profiteering indeed! This is an unconscionable replacement for what (and who) was there before.
There is no crisis of market-rate housing, only that of affordable housing.
Another project with only one and two bedroom units. Seems like the developer is only interested in very small households. It’s almost if the developer is trying to lure a very different kind of resident to the Mission. Haven’t we been here before?
Why does San Francisco get such mediocre modern architecture?