After a year-and-a-half of there being 68 tiny homes behind the former Walgreens at 16th and Mission streets, they’re being torn down, but will be replaced by a larger housing complex that will also house people coming out of homelessness.

You cannot see the above depicted 68 tiny-home complex called Mission Cabins at 16th and Mission streets, because it is behind huge black gates. But it has been there since it opened in April 2024, and did not come without a fight from the neighborhood, as Capp Street residents felt like they’d already dealt with plenty enough blight near Marshall Elementary School.

Now a year and a half later, the 68 tiny cabins of Mission Cabins are all closing permanently. This was the plan all along, the facility was always slated to be razed for a 450-unit affordable housing project, that after years of wrangling, is slated to break ground at the former “Monster in the Mission” condo site. The affordable housing project is also intended to serve families, seniors, and the formerly homeless.  

But as Mission Cabins wraps up its interim stay, the reviews have been pretty good. Particularly from a tenant named Antrinette Jenkins who was plucked from the streets and awarded a temporary home there.

“Five minutes later, I’m inside of this place here … out of the cold, out of the water,” Jenkins told Mission Local. “All I had was two blankets and a couple bags. But now it looks like a one-bedroom apartment.”

Admittedly, other tenants complained about the facility’s strict rules (“The staff was hella policing me,” one said to Mission Local). But neighbors who’d been skeptical about having the facility there spoke high of that extra security.

“Having the guards there has been a positive thing for our block,” Capp Street resident and Marshall PTA treasure Naomi Fox said. “I know that guards, from talking to them and getting to know them personally, really cared about helping the school community.”

While this is 68 tiny homeless suddenly gone, most residents have been moved out and transferred to SROs or other supportive housing. SF Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing spokesperson Emily Cohen tells Mission Local that 62 more supportive units are expected to open five blocks away on October 1. But most encouragingly, the city plans to just clean up and reuse these exact same 68 tiny homes at another site in the city.

Related: Supervisors Reject Appeal of 16th & Mission Housing Project for Formerly Homeless [SFist]

Image: San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing