California breaks ground on two affordable housing communities in San Francisco — including for local school district, community college employees

SAN FRANCISCO — Today, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the groundbreaking of two new affordable housing communities in San Francisco’s Fillmore District. Utilizing Governor Newsom’s executive order from 2019 to spur the production of affordable housing in California, the formerly state-owned parking sites will be transformed into 167 homes for low- to extremely-low-income residents.

“These projects are the latest testament to the innovative work happening across the state to make housing more affordable. The sites announced today help put a roof over people’s heads and place them in a stronger position for opportunities to uplift themselves, their families, and their community.”

The Excess Sites program is administered in partnership by the California Department of General Services (DGS) and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). The program identifies state-owned land available and suitable for housing and creates a digital inventory of those properties available through the State Excess Sites – Affordable Housing Opportunities Map Viewer. DGS and HCD review proposals for unawarded sites on a rolling basis.

“Thanks to the Excess Sites program, the state has successfully converted underutilized state properties into community assets for current and future generations of Californians,” said Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Tomiquia Moss. “These projects in San Francisco will build much-needed affordable homes for people who often find it difficult to live in the very communities they serve.”

“As with our other affordable housing developments across the state, this project is a partnership that allows us to zero in on a community’s specific housing needs,” said Government Operations Agency Secretary Nick Maduros. “Providing convenient, affordable housing lightens a significant burden for these valued members of the local educational community.”

Project details

At 750 Golden Gate Avenue, a surface parking lot will be replaced to create 75 affordable rental homes for San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) and San Francisco Community College District (SFCCD) employees. This will be the second educator-employee housing project to break ground in San Francisco. The second phase of this project will consist of building 96 affordable homes at an adjacent parcel at Golden Gate Avenue and Franklin Street.

The second project to break ground—850 Turk Street—will be a 92-unit multifamily affordable housing development redeveloping the site of a former Employment Development Department (EDD) parking garage podium. The project will feature indoor and outdoor common areas, office space, residential service spaces, and a range of available amenities, including a private courtyard, rooftop terrace, and barbecue facilities. Both communities will be developed by MidPen Housing Corporation.

“We are repurposing excess properties throughout the state to build affordable housing that California communities urgently need,” said DGS Director Ana M. Lasso. “DGS is enthusiastic to collaborate on a project that has the unique distinction of benefiting educators and employees of the SFUSD and SFCCD.”

 “Strong, healthy communities need teachers, firefighters, nurses, and others who have too often been priced out of living in the neighborhoods they serve,” said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez. “We are honored to help implement the Governor’s vision to transform underutilized state land to meet this critical need for affordable housing options.”

From state land to affordable housing

In 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom issued an Executive Order N-06-19, which tasked HCD and DGS with tackling the state’s affordable housing crisis by identifying underutilized state-owned land that could be converted into affordable housing, with consideration to factors such as proximity to job centers, amenities, and public transit. The order has since been utilized to create hundreds of affordable homes, including:

• 248 new homes at Sugar Pine Village for families and workers in the Tahoe region

• 150 new homes under construction at Mulberry Gardens Senior Apartments in Riverside

• 58 new homes at Sonrisa in Sacramento

• 48 new homes at Guardian Village in Reedley

• 241 new homes under construction at The Monarch in Sacramento

• 55 new homes under construction at Pacific Crest Commons in Truckee