San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed today celebrated the opening of new permanent supportive housing at 835 Turk Street. In March of this year, the City of San Francisco purchased the property in District 2 and converted it to 114 Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) units. The building will provide affordable homes with onsite social services to help tenants exit homelessness and gain housing stability.
The newly acquired building will have staff, professional property management, and support services onsite. The property, a residential hotel, was selected based on its high vacancy and amenities that include a lobby and dining room. Tenants will also have access to activities and services provided by Five Keys Schools and Programs.
The new units at 835 Turk Street are part of Mayor Breed’s historic Homelessness Recovery Plan, announced in July 2020, which calls for the largest expansion of PSH in 20 years. Through the Homelessness Recovery Plan, the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) has added a total of nearly 3,000 PSH Units, exceeding Mayor Breed’s goal to acquire or lease 1,500 PSH units by June 2022 by 195%.
Since 2017, HSH has almost doubled the number of supportive housing units, ramping up to provide over 14,000 units by 2023. PSH is an evidence-based approach to addressing homelessness for people with complex needs and long histories of homelessness. Tenants in PSH in San Francisco have a 97% year-over-year stability rate and after two years in PSH, 87% of tenants remain stably housed, exceeding the national average of 80%.
“The almost 3,000 units of Permanent Supportive Housing we added in the last two years are a testament of what’s possible when we stay focused on what works, proving that we can create pathways out of homelessness for people in our City,” said Mayor London Breed. “Addressing homelessness requires all of us working together, and we will continue to work with our federal and state partners on projects like this one and other efforts.”
“I’m thrilled to see the first Permanent Supportive Housing site open in District 2,” said Supervisor Catherine Stefani. “835 Turk Street will not only provide 114 homes for folks who are experiencing homelessness, but will also provide critical supportive services. Investments like this are paramount to addressing the crisis on our streets.”
“The opening of this site will provide stability and a fresh start for adults who are exiting homelessness,” said San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing Director, Shireen McSpadden. “The Mayor’s commitment to Permanent Supportive Housing is critical in making San Francisco a more livable city for everyone.”
"Five Keys is proud to partner with San Francisco to launch this latest addition to the City's portfolio of Permanent Supportive Housing as we collectively work to address the need for more housing and services to elevate people from homelessness to housing," said Five Keys President and CEO, Steve Good.
The purchase of the property at 835 Turk Street is part of the Mayor’s Homelessness Recovery Plan and FY21-23 budget that includes funding for acquisitions of new PSH. The property was prioritized for acquisition based on its condition, location, price and ability to meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness.
San Francisco provides shelter and housing to over 15,000 homeless and formerly homeless people across the community every night. To date, the City has been awarded over $212 million in state Homekey funding for new PSH, including:
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$76.9 million for the acquisition of the Diva and Granada Hotels,
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$54.7 million for the building at 1321 Mission Street,
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$16.8 million for the property at 5630 Mission Street
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$56.7 million for 333 12th Street
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$7.5 million for the building at 3061 16th Street
Progress on Mayor Breed’s Homelessness Recovery Plan can be found here: sf.gov/data/homelessness-recovery-plan.