Following Mission Local reporting on a long-delayed affordable housing project in the Tenderloin, the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development has changed course and committed to seek developers for the site within the next two years.
That would mean that a fully affordable housing project, which was promised at the site as far back as 2015, could begin construction soon after.
District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood said Mission Local’s reporting inspired him to push for a change to the city’s agreement with La Cocina, the popular incubator kitchen that first opened at the spot in 2021. He said he refused to support extending La Cocina’s lease unless the city takes steps toward building housing.
“We do respect and appreciate the temporary activation, but it’s time to start moving forward on the original purpose for this site,” Mahmood said, referring to affordable housing. The Board of Supervisors approved the new amended lease agreement today.
The city acquired a vacant post office at 101 Hyde St. in 2016 for a proposed affordable housing building, but citing a lack of immediate funding brought in La Cocina to temporarily use the site for a public food hall.
La Cocina closed its marketplace in 2023 after only two years, citing low foot traffic and poor sales. In its place, the nonprofit began operating its commissary kitchen for its program participants, disappointing some in the neighborhood who wanted a public space for the community.
In October, Mission Local reported that the city was about to sign a new 5-year lease extension with La Cocina through 2031, removing any possibility of housing at the site for another six years. City officials reasoned at the time that the site was not competitive for state funding needed to move the development forward.
When the lease extension came before the Board of Supervisors last week, the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development added a provision that it will begin seeking proposals from developers to build on the site by 2027. The exact timeline for new development is uncertain.
The office also added a possibility for the city to break the lease after two years if it finds resources faster to build housing.
The Tenderloin has been waiting years for housing on the site. Eighty-five affordable units at 101 Hyde were promised as part of a 2016 deal with a developer needing to fulfill its affordable housing requirements for a separate market-rate project.
While that 304-unit market-rate project pushed ahead and has residents living in it today, the spokesperson for the mayor’s housing office, Anne Stanley, said that the Tenderloin’s designation as a low-resourced area puts it lower on the priority list for state funding.
Meanwhile, La Cocina’s presence at the site saves the city money it would otherwise owe for keeping the building vacant.
The renewed push is promising for residents.
Michael Nulty, a resident and program director of the Tenant Associations Coalition, said in a statement that he was “grateful,” and called it a “meaningful step forward for everyone involved, especially the thousands of low-income Tenderloin families, seniors and formerly homeless individuals who urgently need these homes.”
La Cocina, too, is heeding community pushback on the five-year lease proposal and making plans to better engage Tenderloin residents.
“One of the biggest grievances we hear regarding the transition of 101 Hyde is the loss of community gathering space,” reads a new report from the nonprofit obtained by Mission Local, referring to its change from a food hall to commissary kitchen.
The report shows plans to roll out free access to the building for meeting and office space during business hours, with a focus on Tenderloin-based workers and students, residents and families. The nonprofit also plans to begin more community programming, like night markets and community dinners for neighborhood residents.
The Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee unanimously approved the amended lease last week, and the full board is expected to approve it today.
“accelerate” “within two years”
And we wonder why we have a housing crisis.
“Accelerate” is a non-low-income housing priority, says YIMBYism.
“Trust trickle down”
Good start, now do Parcel K in Hayes Valley, the affordable housing site that the Proxy space – a luxury gym, coffee shop, and occasional event space – is camping on. Or will Mahmood continue blocking housing there because *that* part of the district is affluent?
This situation raises a legitimate and pressing question. Planning regulations typically mandate that affordable housing projects be constructed simultaneously with market-rate housing—specifically when the approval of the market-rate units was granted in conjunction with the affordable ones.
If the market-rate housing is complete but the Post Office site remains unconstructed, this constitutes a clear violation of the approval terms and permitting processes. We must identify the leadership within Planning staff, specifically those in charge of permitting and approvals, housing, staff and administration – who are responsible for this oversight. Why is this being tolerated? Allowing market-rate developments to proceed without their required affordable counterparts suggests favoritism toward developers and the privileged. This raises significant questions regarding ethics and propriety. Is leadership benefitting from this arrangement? The public deserves to know Mr. Lurie: “How will we get accountability here?”
If confirmed, these points highlight a deficiency in both leadership and management oversight and the delivery of results.
How much are these housing and planning bureaucrats and directors making — whilst not providing housing? How is this a value-add for the City and people who live here?
Make it back into a Post Office !!
When they closed that branch a couple of thousand homeless people lost their only mailing address.
Thing was all tiny mailboxes.
You didn’t mention …
Why did they close the Post Office ?
Same reason Feinstein’s ‘Cop Boxes’ got removed from BART stations.
Backroom political deals.
Willie got the union endorsement.
Cops got a safer workplace.
So, why did they close that post office cause it sure caused lotta pain.
I lived right around the corner from there at 44 McAllister in an SRO for 12 years and listened to the grousing.
h.
Mission Local is promoting the myth that 101 Hyde was a “long-delayed affordable housing project.” La Cocina was always guaranteed five years. Its tenure was delayed due to Covid so the five year period has not run. Many in the community believe that La Cocina is entitled to a longer stay given how the city hurt its business by allowing drug use and dealing on its block.