Board of Supervisors Approves Unprecedented Investment in Affordable Housing

SAN FRANCISCO — The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved today a groundbreaking investment for affordable housing, predicated on the significant windfall from Supervisor Preston’s Prop I ballot measure that has raised hundreds of millions for the city.

“We promised to deliver on Proposition I, and with Budget Chair Ronen, Mayor Breed, and community advocates, we did just that,” Supervisor Preston said. “This deal is a huge step forward for creating the affordable housing our City needs.”

The debt-financing tool approved today, known as Certificates of Participation, total $112 million, including funds for affordable housing site acquisition, new construction, and life-safety repairs in existing affordable housing. Specifically, the bond measure includes: $40 million to acquire land for development of 100% affordable housing, $20 million for capital improvements/repairs to public housing and/or HUD subsidized co-ops, $12 million for affordable educator housing, and $10 million for elevator repairs at SROs.

The measure also includes $30 million for site acquisitions for the API Community, as part of Supervisor Connie Chan’s proposed API Equity Fund.

The $40 million for acquisition creates the first dedicated funding source for the city to acquire land to create affordable housing. “This allows us to find opportunity sites, and not rely on the private market to provide the minimum amount of inclusionary housing, and instead to invest in 100%, permanently affordable housing,” Preston said.

The funding amounts are based on revenue from Prop I, a ballot measure passed by Supervisor Preston in 2020, which has raised more than $220 million to date, and it is projected to bring in $170 million annually over the next five years.

In addition, as part of the negotiated package, the Mayor agreed to spend the previously-allocated $64 million for small sites acquisition, previously a point of friction between the Mayor and the Board. “We are pleased there’s a shared commitment to get these funds out the door to stop displacement and create permanently affordable homes,” said Preston.

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