Builder’s changes clear way in Mission

A group fighting a 117-unit Mission District housing development has dropped its opposition after the builder committed to investing in additional affordable housing and using 100 percent union labor.

Axis Development, which owns the boardedup warehouse at 2675 Folsom St. that shares a block with Parque Niños Unidos and the Treat Commons Community Garden, has agreed to buy two four-unit rent-controlled buildings and transfer them to a neighborhood nonprofit to be preserved as affordable housing.

The agreement, hammered out by Supervisor Hillary Ronen, is the third Mission project where activists have dropped appeals after developers agreed to changes. The other two are 2000-2070 Bryant St. and 1515 S. Van Ness Ave. Taken together, the three projects will create more than 450 units of housing.

“This deal allows the production of badly needed housing while providing community benefits we desperately need,” Ronen said. “From my point of view, anytime there is an appeal of a project I’ll be doing my best to bring the parties together and mediate an outcome both sides can live with.”

The project had been appealed by Calle 24 Latino Cultural District and the Mission Economic Development Agency, organizations that

have generally opposed market-rate housing in the Mission District. The groups argue that the well-to-do residents able to afford new buildings are exacerbating economic pressures that over the past 15 years have transformed the neighborhood from one of the city’s most affordable to one of its most expensive.

Erick Arguello, executive director of Calle 24 Latino Cultural District, said that “every development is very different,” but that he feels that Axis’ agreement to help preserve current residents was significant.

“Keeping families in place is a big deal,” he said. “We’re trying to protect our cultural assets, blue-collar jobs, and the big one, affordable housing.”

While the two buildings were not identified, they were both being marketed for sale, possibly to investors looking to increase revenue by replacing residents. The buildings will be transferred to a local nonprofit like Mission Housing for the Mission Economic Development Agency.

“It’s taking eight units off the speculative market where Latino families who have been in the neighborhood for a long time are paying affordable rents,” said Ronen.

In addition to the eight off-site units, Axis had previously agreed to include 23 below-market rate units in the complex, 19 of which will be affordable to families making 55 percent of area median income ($63,400 for a family of four) and four that will be affordable to families earning 100 percent of area median income ($115,000 for a family of four).

In addition, Axis will lease the street-level space, 5,200 square feet, to a local arts organization for $1 a year. A mural on the building, which was painted by kids for the 40th anniversary of the Jamestown Community Center, will also be preserved.

Axis bought the site in September 2015 for $18 million. Over the past few months, homeless encampments have popped up along the property’s Folsom Street frontage.

Axis Managing Partner Muhammad A. Nadhiri said, “We are thrilled to have reached an agreement with Calle 24 and look forward to bringing new homes to the Mission.

“The Latino Cultural District is deeply important to the Mission, and we are proud that our project will add muchneeded housing, good jobs, and substantial art and culture space for local artists,” he said in a statement.