San Francisco, CA — Today, Mayor London N. Breed joined City and community leaders to celebrate the "topping out” of two new affordable housing communities at Sunnydale HOPE SF, signifying the completion of the buildings’ structural frames. Together, Sunnydale Blocks 3A and 3B will provide 170 apartments for low-income families, including two manager units and 127 units set aside for Sunnydale residents living in public housing. Construction on both communities began in Spring 2023 and is slated to be completed in early 2025.
“As someone who grew up in public housing, the promise we made to the Sunnydale community to build new housing without the displacement of residents is deeply personal,” said Mayor Breed. “This complex is a great example of how we can deliver affordable housing paired with services and resources to improve the lives of our residents. This is the promise of HOPE SF. I want to thank our State partners, Mercy Housing, and Related Companies of California for their support for this project as we continue to make San Francisco a more inclusive city.”
Sunnydale Blocks 3A and 3B will serve families between 50% and 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI), with 75% of the homes set aside for existing Sunnydale public housing households, subsidized by a 20-year Section 8 Project Based Voucher (PBV) contract. With approximately 24,000 square feet of combined ground-floor commercial space, Sunnydale Blocks 3A and 3B represent the largest commercial developments at any HOPE SF site.
Sunnydale Block 3A (Amani)
Sunnydale Block 3A, to be called Amani, is located on the southwest corner of Sunnydale Avenue and Hahn Street and will serve as the most prominent building at the Sunnydale HOPE SF revitalized community’s gateway entrance. In addition to the building’s 80 apartments, the ground floor includes approximately 20,000 square feet of retail and neighborhood services, which are planned for a grocery retail space, food hall, neighborhood resource center, health and wellness center operated by the San Francisco Department of Public Health, and an early childhood education center operated by the Felton Institute.
Sunnydale Block 3B (Nia)
Located immediately next to Amani along Sunnydale Avenue, Block 3B, to be called Nia, will provide 90 apartments as well as approximately 4,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a parking garage comprised of 134 parking spaces serving residents of both Amani and Nia. The retail frontage along Sunnydale Avenue will include seven shops, which will be subleased to a combination of experienced commercial tenants and new entrepreneurs from the community to spur economic development opportunities for the largely BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) community. A bike room will also be located in Nia for residents of both buildings.
“Today we renew our commitment to creating affordable housing, fostering economic opportunity, and a sense of belonging for all Sunnydale residents,” said Supervisor Shamann Walton. “This milestone represents ongoing efforts to revitalize and uplift Sunnydale and is another step in fulfilling a promise.”
Sunnydale is one of four former public housing sites that comprise San Francisco’s HOPE SF initiative, the nation’s first large-scale community development and reparations initiative aimed at creating inclusive, mixed-income, and thriving communities without the mass displacement of existing residents. All HOPE SF projects aim to center residents first and change systems and shift power to ensure San Francisco is a racially and economically inclusive city.
The Sunnydale HOPE SF project includes the complete revitalization of the existing 50-acre Sunnydale-Velasco Housing Authority site, replacing 775 existing apartments with a mixed-use neighborhood of 1,700 high-quality, energy efficient homes. To date, 222 affordable units have been completed with 75% of them designated as public housing replacement units for Sunnydale residents. The transformation also includes the construction of The Hub, a new community center serving Sunnydale and Visitacion Valley residents, which will open in 2024.
“The Housing Authority remains committed to the HopeSF initiative to revitalize Sunnydale, while protecting the rights and values of residents,” said Dr. Tonia Lediju, CEO of the San Francsico Housing Authority. “The completion of this phase is a testimony to the tenacious efforts of the Housing Authority along with its stakeholders to continuously ensure that residents have affordable safe housing in culturally conscious high-resource neighborhoods that cultivate and support vibrant and thriving communities.”
Mercy Housing California and Related California are co-leading the Sunnydale transformation, which, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) and the San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA), were selected to transform Sunnydale into a vibrant, unified, mixed-income community. Local firms David Baker Architects and Baines/Nibbi Joint Venture are also enlisted in the development of Amani and Nia.
“The new homes and neighborhood-serving retail at Amani and Nia will provide community members with the types of local amenities and services enjoyed by most San Francisco residents, including a local grocer offering fresh foods,” said Doug Shoemaker, President of Mercy Housing California.
“We are excited to see Sunnydale HOPE SF’s revitalization progress, with high-quality housing, services, and amenities for all,” said Ann Silverberg, CEO of Related California NorCal Affordable and Northwest Divisions. “We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the City of San Francisco, Mercy Housing, and our additional partners and welcoming residents to their new homes.”
Major financing for both communities was provided by a $55.7 million investment from the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD). Additionally, funding from the State Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC), Housing Accelerator Fund, and Infrastructure Infill Grant programs — administered by the California Strategic Growth Council and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) — are supporting the development, as well as contributions from the San Francisco-California Housing Finance Agency Bond Recycling Program, the San Francisco Department of Public Health, and support from Citibank and Wells Fargo Bank.
“Sunnydale provides a great example of HCD’s funding programs working in tandem to help a very important, shovel-ready project break ground quickly—and to get the needed infrastructure improvements in place to support the community,” said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez. “These projects are not only putting a new face on public housing; they are connecting residents to services, resources, and transit and opening a world of opportunity.”