San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed today announced two new state Homekey awards to support the purchase and operation for two properties, 333 12th Street (City Gardens) and 5630 Mission Street (Mission Inn), which would add 250 new homes for people experiencing homelessness, including the first building dedicated to families. These acquisitions are part of Mayor Breed’s Homeless Recovery Plan, which includes the largest one-time expansion of Permanent Supportive Housing in over 20 years.
Under the Mayor’s Homelessness Recovery Plan, the City set a goal of buying or leasing 1,500 new units of PSH over the course of two years. When the plan ended on June 30th 2022, the City had expanded the PSH portfolio by 2918 units, exceeding the goal by 95%. These units include a mix of properties purchased directly by the City, tenant-based rental vouchers, as well other properties where the City has supported the purchase.
Administered by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), Homekey equips state, regional, and local public entities to develop a wide range of housing types. Homekey builds on the success of Project Roomkey, which is a statewide effort to sustain and rapidly expand housing for persons experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless.
“This state funding is helping us to make a dramatic expansion beyond our initial housing goals for those who are homeless in San Francisco,” said Mayor London Breed. “We are focused on expanding shelter and providing funding to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place, but we know that housing is key to ending homelessness. With this latest round of support from Governor Newsom’s Project Homekey, the state has now helped us secure nearly 800 new homes for people experiencing homelessness.”
333 12th Street awarded $56.7 in Homekey funding: Providing PSH for families exiting homelessness through 200 multi-bedroom units, which range from two-five bedrooms, the acquisition of City Gardens is the first exclusively family serving PSH building purchased through the acquisition process. The building, which was completed in 2021, includes a large lobby and community space, resident lounges on every floor, roof terrace, offices, bike storage, and a landscaped courtyard. The City is currently in the process of selecting a long-term property management partner and onsite social service provider.
5630 Mission Street awarded $16.8 in Homekey funding: A 52-room motel formerly known as the Mission Inn, will provide affordable units with onsite social services to help transitional age youth tenants gain and maintain housing and stability. This property was prioritized for acquisition based on its condition, location, price and ability to meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness. Dolores Street Community Services will operate the site and Larkin Street Youth Services will provide the on-site social services. Mission Housing will manage the rehabilitation of the property.
“Homekey awards are critical in helping the City meet and exceed the goals of the Mayor’s bold Homelessness Recovery Plan,” said Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing Executive Director, Shireen McSpadden. “These most recent acquisitions address the needs of some of our most vulnerable and struggling populations, transitional age youth and families.”
“Thanks to the support of our state government and leadership of Mayor Breed, San Francisco is able to take another step in the right direction to getting people off the street and into housing with the services they need,” said District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey. “The proposed 12th street facility in the South of Market will be a safe haven with the resources to help hundreds of San Francisco families successfully pursue a more stable future.”
“We fought hard for the Mission Inn to provide a fresh start for young people who need help to become self-sufficient and productive members of society,” said Supervisor Ahsha Safai. “This newly created affordable housing demonstrates that every San Francisco neighborhood must contribute to ending homelessness in our community. Thanks to the leadership of Governor Newsom this project has become a reality.”
“We are incredibly excited to partner with Dolores Street Community Services to create a 52 new units of supportive housing program for youth at 5630 Mission Street,” said Sherilyn Adams, executive director of Larkin Street Youth. “The speed and cost efficiencies within the acquisition process for 5630 Mission Street exemplifies the innovation of the State Homekey program and we are grateful for the continued investments from our state and local government partners in our work to end youth homelessness."
HSH and City partners have purchased the following properties through a combination of local, federal, and state funding, including Governor Newsom’s Project Homekey:
- City Gardens (200 units)*
- Eula Hotel (25 units)*
- Granada Hotel (232 units)*
- Hotel Diva (130 units)*
- Mission Inn (52 units)*
- 685 Ellis Street (74 units)
- 835 Turk (114 units)
- 1321 Mission Street (160 units)*
*These projects have received support from the State’s Project Homekey.
In addition to these homes, the City has also added nearly 2,000 units through master leasing new PSH buildings and adding new rental subsidies to support scattered site permanent supportive housing.
Progress on Mayor Breed’s Homelessness Recovery Plan can be found here: sf.gov/data/homelessness-recovery-plan.