The good news is that the highly anticipated affordable housing complex for SFUSD teachers is just a couple months from allowing its new tenants in. The bad news is that the vast majority of applicants won’t get a place, as applicants outnumber available units by about sixfold.
SF’s first subsidized affordable housing project for teachers is coming to 43rd Avenue between Irving and Judah streets, though the Chronicle described its life-cycle as “20 years of stops and starts” once it finally broke ground. It’s going to be called Shirley Chisholm Village, and a new report in Thursday’s Chronicle declares the new development “will be ready for move-in this fall.”
But on a less encouraging note, that information comes in an article detailing that the 135-unit complex got 900 applications from qualified prospective tenants. So that’s six times more applicants than available units, so the vast majority of teachers’ hopes will be dashed.
“The interest in Shirley Chisholm Village is very encouraging, and signals the desire for more affordable homes for educators,” San Francisco Unified School District spokesperson Laura Dudnick told the Chronicle, putting it diplomatically. “We are excited about the potential to meet this need for our communities with these properties."
Per the Chron, the facility will offer 24 studio apartments, 43 one-bedrooms, 58 two-bedrooms, and nine three-bedroom units. Marketing materials say the selection of tenants will “prioritize San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) educators and employees.”
There are two more teacher affordable housing projects in the pipeline – one on Mission Street and another on Golden Gate Avenue. That said, the one on Mission Street is currently in limbo after its federal funding application was denied. The Chronicle reported earlier this year that a couple more sites are being scouted as possible additional affordable housing for teachers sites, one of them being the part-time Clancy’s Pumpkin Patch site at at Seventh Avenue and Lawton Street.
Image: MidPen Housing
