San Francisco, CA - Today, Mayor London N. Breed and representatives from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) joined housing advocates and development partners to celebrate the grand opening of 180 Jones Street, a new 100% affordable housing development located on a formerly vacant corner lot in the heart of the Tenderloin. The nine-story, 38,500 square foot building offers 70 new permanently affordable homes for low-income residents, including 35 subsidized units for previously unhoused adults.
“Over the last several years we have taken decisive steps to make the Tenderloin a safer, cleaner, and more inviting neighborhood but we are also creating opportunities for residents to thrive, including by building more affordable housing,” said Mayor London Breed. “This is an incredible project, but it is just one of the thousands of new homes we are building all across our City. I want to thank the State of California, City agencies, project partners, and the Tenderloin community for working with us to make 180 Jones a reality. To be a city that is more affordable for all, we have to be aggressive in building housing all across San Francisco.”
Removing obstacles to deliver more housing for San Franciscans has been a cornerstone of Mayor Breed’s tenure. The new building at 180 Jones Street, a former parking lot, is one of several affordable housing developments in San Francisco’s Tenderloin completed and/or renovated since 2018, totaling 1,267 units across all affordable housing projects. An additional 143 units are currently undergoing renovation, and one renovation project with 47 units is slated to start construction next year.
The Mayor’s Housing for All strategy fundamentally changes how the City approves and builds housing by laying out an action plan to meet the bold goal of allowing for 82,000 new homes to be built as part of the State-mandated Housing Element. Just last month, San Francisco received the Prohousing Designation from the State of California for the City’s efforts to build more housing faster, including initiatives to deliver more affordable homes in places that historically or currently exclude households earning lower incomes and households of color, as well as work to streamline multifamily housing developments.
Amenities for 180 Jones Street residents include a ground-floor community room, property management with 24-hour desk clerk, on-site social workers, bike parking, free fiber internet courtesy of the City’s Fiber to Housing program, and a second-story landscaped courtyard open to the street. 180 Jones Street achieved LEED Gold Certification, one of the highest certifications for sustainable construction. The building is powered by 100% renewable energy through CleanPowerSF.
The 70 new homes at 180 Jones Street are part of Mayor Breed’s efforts to deliver new housing all across the city, including the largest expansion of permanent supportive housing in 20 years. The 35 subsidized apartments at the new development are reserved for adults experiencing homelessness and were filled based on referrals through the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing’s (HSH) Coordinated Entry process.
“By providing safe and stable homes, we empower our most vulnerable community members to reclaim their lives, access vital services and build a pathway toward lasting stability,” said HSH Executive Director Shireen McSpadden. “The program at 180 Jones demonstrates that, collectively, we can create a safe space where people struggling to exit homelessness can transform their lives.”
180 Jones Street was made possible by financing from the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). The project received a Multifamily Housing Program (MHP) award and California Housing Accelerator Tier 1 funds, made available through the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund (CSFRF) established by the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). The project was awarded $23.8 million in Accelerator funds in February of 2022, making it the second California Housing Accelerator Fund deal to close in San Francisco.
“We are proud that HCD’s Housing Accelerator and Multifamily Housing Programs have paired to bring critical housing online faster for city residents most in need of housing stability,” said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez. “The model of supportive services represented here by the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation is one we look forward to replicating statewide through Homekey+ in the years ahead thanks to voter approval of Proposition 1.”
The affordable housing development at 180 Jones Street was born out of the Tenderloin community’s effort to negotiate a community benefits agreement with a nearby market-rate developer with the goal of providing “step-up housing” for longtime SRO residents. In June 2019, Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC) was selected to develop, manage, and provide services to 180 Jones Street under their response to the 180 Jones Developer Request for Qualifications (RFQ), issued on March 15, 2019.
TNDC is providing in-house property management and social services to ensure the tenants of 180 Jones Street have a built-in support network to help them adjust to their new home and remain stably housed. More than 10,000 people live in TNDC’s 47 buildings, located both in the Tenderloin and across seven other San Francisco neighborhoods.
"At 180 Jones, TNDC transformed an inclusionary housing land donation to the City into studio homes for low-income residents, including many formerly unhoused,” said Katie Lamont, Interim Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer, TNDC. “With supportive services, community spaces, and a shared courtyard, this development addresses homelessness and strengthens our community. TNDC remains dedicated to creating homes that offer stability and opportunity for all San Franciscans."
180 Jones Street was designed by San Francisco-based architecture firm Van Meter Williams Pollack LLP and constructed by Cahill Contractors, Inc. Local firms Waypoint Consulting, California Housing Partnership, and Gubb & Barshay were also enlisted on the project.
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