Supes vote for housing at Potrero bus yard

San Francisco’s Potrero bus yard is one step closer to becoming the home of more than 500 housing units — at least 50% of them affordable — in five years.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to push forward the modernization of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s Potrero bus yard, which would build between 525 and 575 housing units on top of a new facility. It would rebuild the 100yearold storage yard and trolley bus maintenance facility on the 4.4acre site at 2500 Mariposa St. in the Mission.

The initial target for the project is 50% affordable housing — between 262 and 288 units for low to moderateincome residents — but the agency has a strong preference for a plan that could get to 100%.

“I’m most excited about the possibility of folks being able to afford to live in San Francisco, in my district,” Board President Shamann Walton told The Chronicle. “Our office pushed extremely hard to make sure the bottom floor is 50% affordable, up to 100%.”

SFMTA spokeswoman Erica Kato said the project is a “onceinacentury opportunity to

leverage the construction at the site to contribute to the city’s affordable housing goals.”

When the SFMTA tried to build affordable housing at a SoMa parking garage in 2019, the agency canceled the request for proposals from developers a year into the process after community outcry, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

The city is currently looking into modernizing three other bus yards: Presidio in Laurel Heights, Kirkland at Fisherman’s Wharf and Muni Metro East in the Dogpatch. The agency is analyzing each site for future opportunities for housing after engaging with the community, Kato said.

About 14% of Muni riders depended on buses from the Potrero yard daily prepandemic, the agency said. The “obsolete” facility houses nearly 400 employees and 100plus trolley buses, but some ceilings are too low to do repairs, and the building isn’t seismically stable in a major earthquake. With modernization, the agency aims to maintain and store more electric buses, double the number of employees working there, and increase ontime performance, reduce vehicle breakdowns and prevent passenger overcrowding.

The project could bring in money for the struggling agency.

The housing component will be a “joint development” — a partner invests in and develops the project, and the agency gets revenue without having to pay upfront.

If the project passes an environmental review, the SFMTA will put out a request for proposals. The city identified three qualified developers last year and will select one by the end of spring. San Francisco Public Works is administering the contract on behalf of the SFMTA. Construction is expected to start in 2023 and finish by the end of 2026.

The agency estimates the entire project will cost about $500 million to construct. Nearly $40 million is already in capital project plans. Final funding hasn’t been identified.

Affordable housing could also serve Muni’s employees, especially bus operators who commute from as far as Modesto and Sacramento. Kato said the SFMTA is working with the mayor’s office to determine how the agency may include the housing needs of employees in marketing and leasing of the housing units. Walton said he’s “very supportive” of housing operators, but laws prohibit specifically carving out who the housing goes to. The plan could set income levels that legally line up with operators’ salaries, he said.

Operators who commute when public transit isn’t running also need parking, said Roger Marenco, Muni’s main union president. He protested that the initial proposal would eliminate onsite parking.

“You have to take care of the men and women who are keeping the system afloat at least with a damn parking space,” he said.

Walton said “we’re going to do everything we can to make sure any parking that was there is maintained.”

Kato said the SFMTA is working on transportation options for employees to get to work.