Developers assigned to Mission project
More than a decade after Mission District residents revolted against a plan for a big marketrate condo building at the 16th and Mission BART Station, city housing officials have selected two neighborhood nonprofit developers to take on the project.
On Wednesday, the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development planned to announce that it has selected Mission Economic Development Agency, known as MEDA, and Mission Housing Development Corp. to lead development of new permanently affordable rental housing at 1979 Mission St.
The project will be one of the biggest affordable developments in recent memory: 350 rental units on a 57,000-square-foot parcel. The project, which will be built in phases, will serve low-income and formerly homeless households. The site is currently occupied by a row of vacancy retail spaces, including a former Walgreens.
“I’m excited to see the work that MEDA and Mission Housing will do to build this project and provide hundreds of affordable homes in the heart of the Mission,” said Mayor London Breed.
The announcement caps a highly charged development fight, led by a group of activists who formed an organization, the Plaza 16 Coalition, in order to oppose efforts by Maximus Real Estate Partners to construct a mostly market-rate project on the site. Facing overwhelming opposition, and little if any political support, the developer eventually sold the site to another developer, Crescent Heights, which gave it to the city in order to satisfy an affordable housing requirement for a proposed apartment at 10 South Van Ness.
Opponents to the development called the original project “Monster in the Mission” and instead came up with an alternative they dubbed “Marvel in the Mission,” an effort to retain working-class families in a neighborhood that lost 8,000 Latino households in the decade between 2005 and 2015.
“We are now one step closer to making the hard-fought Marvel in the Mission project at 16th and Mission Street a reality,” said Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who represents the neighborhood.
MEDA and Mission Housing are teamed up with Caritas Management and Lutheran Social Services, which will provide resident services.
The development plan will include two separate buildings catering to both housing for families with dependent children and permanently supportive housing for unhoused families.
“It’s because of the grit and tenacity of our Mission community who organized and fought for this site’s development that hundreds of people will one day be able to permanently call San Francisco their home as it is transformed into a 100% affordable housing site,” said MEDA CEO Luis Granados.
Mission Housing CEO Sam Moss said his organization has “made a commitment to you all to work as one to bring the Marvel to life.”
The project will include a renovation of the BART plaza next to the site.
While the selection of the developer is a significant milestone, it’s going to take a while to line up funding. If everything goes as planned, construction would start in 2026, with the first residents moving in by the end of 2028.
The city is facing pressure from state housing authorities to plan for 82,000 new homes by the end of 2031.