A monster step forward for what was once a largely derided luxury condo development at 16th and Mission streets, as the former “Monster in the Mission” will be 100% affordable housing developed by two respected affordable housing nonprofits.
If you remember when 16th and Mission Street BART plaza had a Walgreens and a Burger King, you may remember an enormous 2017-era controversy to turn those vacant properties into an upscale condo project that angry Mission District opponents dubbed the “Monster in the Mission.” But opponents managed to create enough public hostility toward the project that the developer sold the property to another developer, who then sold it to the city to satisfy the affordable housing requirement on a different development. And the city reiterated their intentions in August to make it a 100% affordable housing project.
That proposed affordable housing project just cleared a major milestone. The Chronicle reports that the city has awarded the project to two well-known affordable housing nonprofits, Mission Housing and the Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA). Those two nonprofits will build and manage the property at 1979 Mission Street, a 57,000-square-foot parcel that will become 350 units for low-income and formerly homeless families.
“We are now one step closer to making the hard-fought Marvel in the Mission project at 16th and Mission Street a reality,” the district’s supervisor Hillary Ronen said in a statement to the Chronicle.
Mission Local explains that it will be low-income housing, set aside for low-income families or those formerly homeless. That site also says the project is likely to be split into two separate buildings.
MEDA CEO Luis Granados said in a statement that “It’s because of the grit and tenacity of our Mission community who organized and fought for this site’s development that hundreds of people will one day be able to permanently call San Francisco their home as it is transformed into a 100% affordable housing site.”
Of course, the project has not even broken ground yet, and probably won’t for a couple years. In the meantime, there have been plans to turn the parcel into a temporary tiny homes site. That plan faced significant opposition because parents thought it would bring too much sketchiness to the adjacent Marshall Elementary School, but last we heard, Ronen said in October that the tiny homes plan was back on with assurances of additional security.
But again, the tiny homes will just be an interim use. Mission Local reports that the now so-called “Marvel in the Mission” could break ground as early as 2026, and be ready for residential move-ins by 2028.
Image: Google Street View
