SROs Selected for Critical Elevator Repairs
Awards Will Fund Repairs to 14 SRO Elevators Serving More than 1,000 Vulnerable Residents
The City’s unprecedented investment in Single Room Occupancy (SRO) elevator repairs, championed by Supervisor Dean Preston, took a major step forward as 14 SROs, consisting of 1,391 homes, were tentatively awarded elevator grants totaling $10 million. The funds are part of an elevator repair fund that Supervisor Preston, who represents the Tenderloin, created through the 2022 budget. The fight to get the funds out the door has become a crusade for Preston who ramped up pressure after the Mayor’s Administration blew repeated deadlines for issuing notices of funding availability. Preston praised the announcement of awards.
“This is great progress. Once these repairs are made, over 1000 residents of the Tenderloin, many senior and disabled, will be able to come and go from their homes safely thanks to this unprecedented city investment in emergency SRO elevator repairs,” said Supervisor Preston, a former tenant rights attorney in the Tenderloin, who made securing these funds and getting them out the door a top budget priority.
The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) is delivering $10 million total in funds to fund elevator improvements at 14 SRO buildings, with contracts expected to be finalized in October. This is a badly needed upgrade for a portfolio of older SRO buildings that serve formerly homeless tenants including seniors and people with disabilities.
Funding for the Elevator Modernization Project comes from a $112 million agreement in 2022 for a package of housing development and renovation projects that Supervisor Preston led on to deliver intended priorities from his groundbreaking measure Prop I passed in 2020. To date, $203 million of over $300 million collected to date from Prop I revenues have been allocated for affordable housing.
HSH announced the awards timeline at the Homelessness Oversight Commission meeting this month. As part of the process, 13 applicants were selected from SRO master lease buildings. This will improve the quality of life for 1,295 households in its Permanent Supportive Housing portfolio. In addition, HSH has confirmed to Supervisor Preston’s office that the 96-unit Cadillac Hotel has also received a tentative award, bringing the total homes served to 1,391 units at 14 SROs.
With tentative awards announced, the next step is for HSH to negotiate and finalize contracts with the provider. Under the program, City funds will be matched with funds from the owners/operators for maximum impact. Contracts are expected to be finalized in October.
Elevators in disrepair are not just a technical building code violation, but can have serious health and safety implications for residents, even threatening the viability of programs in the PSH portfolio, as an SF Chronicle article revealed in May.
“It’s not just an inconvenience when an elevator goes down again in one of our older Tenderloin buildings,” said Anakh Sul Rama, Housing Community Organizer at Senior & Disability Action. “Tenants face so many challenges in our SRO housing, and a broken elevator can mean leaving people stuck in their homes, unable to take care of their basic needs without anyone’s help.”
“No one wants to get trapped in an elevator,” said Greg Hardeman, union rep at IUEC Local 8, the elevator constructors union. “Our skilled and trained members work on a lot of these old buildings in the Tenderloin and SOMA and understand the serious hazards that an unreliable elevator presents. We are ready and eager to get all these elevators fixed as soon as possible.”
