What’s currently a parking lot at McAllister and Franklin Streets will become 196 units of affordable housing, in a horse-trading deal between developers and city officials that will ultimately create a reported 671 homes.
The website for a proposed development at 600 McAllister Street describes the project as “exactly what the market wants today — a high quality, modern, mid-rise property in a location close to jobs, transit, and exceptional retail amenities.” But what that project will in fact now be is something else, and maybe more what many San Franciscans want today. KRON4 reports on a deal where the city will acquire the 600 McAllister parcel, and eventually build as many as 196 affordable housing units.
“I’m thrilled that we are creating affordable homes for hundreds of working San Franciscans and their families at 600 McAllister Street,” the district’s supervisor Dean Preston said in a statement to KRON4. “I am proud to push the envelope to create as much affordable housing as possible.”
This is a fairly complex deal that involves multiple properties, but Bay City News explains the whole arrangement. The developers of a market-rate tower proposed for 98 Franklin Street have been granted permission to add more height and density to that project, and in return, gave the city a land dedication for the 600 McAllister project, which is being proposed as all below-market-rate units.
There’s another $1 million in the deal for the Hayes Valley parcel that’s currently the outdoor movie theater Proxy, which could become 80-90 more affordable units. All told, according to Bay City News, “The entire package will help create up to 671 homes, more than 42 percent of which will be permanently affordable housing.”
“In this down market, with many private developments stalled or abandoned, the city should aggressively pursue site acquisitions for affordable housing,” Preston added in his release. “Bold pursuit of these opportunities is the only way we will meet our affordable housing goals.”
That said, KRON4 describes the deal as “Preston’s legislation,” so it may not be a fully done deal yet, and there may be a few layers of City Hall review.
Image: Google Street View
