San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed and the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) today announced that initial lottery applications for SFUSD educators and other SFUSD employees to apply for affordable housing at Shirley Chisholm Village opens Tuesday, April 2 on DAHLIA, San Francisco’s Housing Portal. This first round of applications for SFUSD employees will remain open until Tuesday, April 23.
“San Francisco has a housing shortage that is holding us back from being a thriving, affordable city, but we are making significant changes to get more homes built. Shirley Chisholm Village is an example of our work to make this city more affordable,” said Mayor London Breed. “We must continue to build on this momentum to find every opportunity to bring housing solutions that are affordable so all working people can live in the communities that they work so hard to support. This includes our SFUSD educators and staff that are working tirelessly every day to serve San Francisco students and families and make sure the next generation can thrive.”
The 135-unit development, located at 1360 43rd Avenue in the Sunset District and named in honor of Shirley Chisholm—an advocate for public education and the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress—is the first 100% affordable housing project that will prioritize SFUSD educators and other SFUSD employees during the lease-up process. Eligible applicants will need to provide employment verification including their SFUSD job code as part of the initial application on DAHLIA. Applicants will be further prioritized if they are eligible for other local housing preference programs; more information on these programs is available here.
"In alignment with our district’s vision, values, goals and guardrails, SFUSD is committed to retaining high quality educators who are crucial to achieving our goals for student outcomes and creating supportive learning environments for San Francisco public school students,” said SFUSD Superintendent Dr. Matt Wayne. “Shirley Chisholm Village poses a unique opportunity to provide educators an affordable opportunity to live in the community in which they work. We support efforts to create more affordable housing for our educators.”
“If we want to keep families in San Francisco we need more housing and we need good public schools. Good schools require teachers, and teachers need a place to live. That’s why the affordable housing we’re building in the Sunset for SFUSD employees is essential for our city to thrive,” said Supervisor Joel Engardio, who represents the Sunset neighborhoods on the westside. “Let’s do more. This should only be the beginning.”
The property will offer 24 studios, 43 one-bedroom, 58 two-bedroom, and 9 three-bedroom apartments for rent that will be subject to a tenant preference for households with at least one member who is a current educator or other employee of SFUSD, and households earning up to 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI). In 2023, 120% AMI was $121,000 for a household of one and $172,900 for a household of four.
Amenities at Shirley Chisholm Village include outdoor courtyards, a fitness room, a publicly accessible outdoor play area, a community room, limited onsite parking, and a workspace lounge with views of Ocean Beach. There will also be on-site support services and an after-school program for school-aged youth living at the property.
Shirley Chisholm Village was the first 100% affordable housing development to break ground in the Sunset in the last decade, and the first housing project for SFUSD educators and employees for the City and County of San Francisco. MidPen Housing is the project’s lead developer in collaboration with SFUSD, the Board of Education, and labor partners. Upon completion, the property will be managed by MidPen Property Management, with resident services provided by MidPen Resident Services.
“Thanks to the long-term vision and partnership of the City of San Francisco and the San Francisco Unified School District, 135 families will soon come home to Shirley Chisholm Village,” said Matthew O. Franklin, President and CEO of MidPen Housing. “We're honored to deliver San Francisco’s first development that prioritizes public school educators and employees across a wide range of incomes, and we hope this will inspire similar projects in communities around the country.”
In June 2015, the Board of Supervisors and the Board of Education passed resolutions supporting the development of educator housing in San Francisco. In 2016, then-Supervisor Breed and other local leaders advocated for the passage of the Teacher Housing Act (Senate Bill 1413) in the California Legislature, which was approved by former Governor Jerry Brown and authorized school districts in the State to build rental housing for educators and other district employees on property owned by the district. In 2017, SFUSD designated the property at 1360 43rd Avenue, then known as the Francis Scott Key Annex, to be converted to housing for educators and district employees. The project officially started construction in August 2022.
The project’s location in the high-resource area of the Sunset District was crucial in receiving more than $24 million in federal low-income housing tax credits. The project also received permanent loan financing from Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank, as well as local funding from the voter-approved 2015 General Obligation Affordable Housing Bond, excess Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF), and the local Inclusionary Affordable Housing Program, administered by the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development.
If there are more apartments available than eligible SFUSD educators and employees that apply, apartments will be leased to the general public who meet eligibility requirements. Applications for the general public will open in Summer 2024. Please visit housing.sfgov.org for updates.
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