Dispute stalls 63 affordable housing units

Last April Mayor London Breed and other politicos gathered at a construction site to celebrate the groundbreaking of 63 low-income housing units, half of which would accommodate young adults, ages 18 to 24, who are transitioning out of public services, such as foster care.

Supervisor Dean Preston said the project represented “the kind of work that changes lives.” Mayor Breed said the project — then a freshly excavated hole in the ground at 78 Haight St. — demonstrated the city’s commitment to “building a city that is more equitable and affordable for all of our residents, especially our most vulnerable young people.”

Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp. CEO Maurilio León, whose company is overseeing the project, said the development would give residents “an opportunity to focus on well-being and build a vibrant, supportive community.”

Yet, less than a month after the ceremonial groundbreaking gave politicians a chance to pose for photos with commemorative shovels, the job site was shut down because of a dispute with an abutting neighbor, the Mount Trinity Baptist Church.

The contractor removed its backhoes and pile drivers, and the slender parcel at Octavia and Haight became another in the city’s growing collection of blighted properties — a partially excavated, fenced-in site with no activity but a small homeless encampment along the perimeter.

At a time when the city is on the hook to produce 46,000 affordable units over the next eight years, the inability to make progress on a fully funded $51 million project is frustrating, according to Jen Laska, board president of the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association.

“It’s really concerning,” said Laska, who attended the groundbreaking. “As a neighborhood association, we have been very supportive of that project. We have welcomed it. We want and need that housing here.”

The details of the conflict that has caused the delays are not clear. While the church did not return calls and emails seeking comment, sources familiar with the situation say the disagreement is centered on the premise that the Mount Trinity building is in poor shape and TNDC would need to underpin its foundation in order to ensure that it survives the construction next door.

TNDC has offered various solutions for shoring up the church’s foundation, but, so far, sources say, the church has rejected them.

While talks between the church and the developer have been sporadic, Katie Lamont, chief operating officer of TNDC, said, “We are still working on reaching an agreement.

“We know there is a solution where their building is protected and we are able to build our building,” she said, adding that the transitional aged youth development is badly needed.

Youths ages 18 to 24 make up about 20% of the population experiencing homelessness in San Francisco. Recent point in time homeless counts have found about 1,500 of the city’s 8,000 unhoused are in this age group.

Anne Stanley, a spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, said TNDC and the church “are in active negotiations ... on an access agreement that would allow for completing structural evaluations of the project site.”

“Construction work has been suspended as those negotiations progress,” Stanley said, adding that the $27 million in tax credit money that is partially funding the development has not had to be returned.

If the project is ever built, the transitional housing in the development will be managed by Larkin Street Youth Services. At the time of the groundbreaking in April of last year, Larkin Street Executive Director Sherilyn Adams said, “A safe and stable place to call home opens doors to the future for young people.

“This development will give 32 TAY households the opportunity for a brighter future off the streets,” she said.

Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who represents that corner of Hayes Valley, said his “office is aware of the project, and some of the history around it. It’s disappointing to see much-needed transitional housing like this stalled, and I’m willing to help in any way I can to move it forward.”

J.K. Dineen / The Chronicle Ground was broken on a project at Haight and Octavia streets, but a conflict with a nearby church put a stop to construction.