Violating Budget Deal, Mayor Breed Obstructs Development of Affordable Housing, Killing 100% Affordable Project at Touchless Car Wash Site and Jeopardizing Teacher Housing in the Mission
SAN FRANCISCO — This past June, Mayor London Breed, Budget Chair Hillary Ronen and Supervisor Dean Preston reached an historic agreement to allocate $112m to boost affordable housing development, including $40m for site acquisition and $12m for teacher housing. Nearly seven months later, with the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) refusing to move forward, at least one potential site acquisition is dead, and a teacher housing project in the Mission may be in jeopardy. The obstruction comes as the City will vote next week on adopting a new Housing Element, which includes significantly increased targets to produce affordable housing.
“This kind of obstruction of affordable housing is ridiculous,” said Supervisor Dean Preston. “We came to an agreement last year, but because the Mayor has decided to stand in the way of getting the funds out the door, we’re missing golden opportunities for more affordable housing development.”
In September, with promises from the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) that funds would soon be released pursuant to the budget deal, a nonprofit developer entered into a contract to acquire the property at 400 Divisadero Street for 100% affordable housing. The former Touchless Car Wash site, 400 Divisadero was approved for market rate housing development in 2019, but the private development plans fell through last year. Supervisor Preston has publicly championed acquiring the property for affordable housing and the site was identified in the budget negotiations and agreed by the Mayor’s office.
Since the summer, Preston’s office has been urging MOHCD to issue Notices of Funding Availability (NOFAs), the vehicle for developer selection requested by the Mayor in the budget deal. MOHCD has repeatedly delayed, failing to take any steps in seven months to get the funds out. Not only has this significantly delayed promised affordable housing, but it has effectively killed at least one major opportunity site.
On January 9th, with the due diligence period ending, the nonprofit in contract to acquire 400 Divisadero was forced to exit the contract for acquisition based on MOHCD’s ongoing failure to issue the NOFA and warnings that the Mayor intended to obstruct funding for the site for political reasons.
The same day, at the inaugural meeting of the Board of Supervisors, Mayor Breed said: “My hope is that this gives us an opportunity to come together like never before, to work together to think about the decisions that we make to put the people of this city before a lot of... the petty politics that can get in the way of real progress.”
In addition to blocking the acquisition of 400 Divisadero, the MOHCD delays are threatening another project understood to be part of the budget compromise. A site owned by the Mission Economic Development Agency at 18th and Mission, intended to be 100% affordable housing for educators, has been unable to secure project financing without city funds. According to MEDA staff, this delay is having a critical impact on the project timeline, potentially derailing the much-needed development.
Also delayed without any timeline by the Mayor’s office are $20 million for emergency public housing repairs and $10 million in SRO elevator repairs, both of which were crucial parts of the budget deal. The Mayor is blocking these funds by refusing to issue NOFA’s or otherwise make the funds available, despite agreeing to the deal in June and despite the unanimous approval of the Board of Supervisors.
“We worked hard on this affordable housing package in the budget process. The Mayor agreed to it. I’m very concerned that seven months later she hasn’t taken steps to get money out the door to follow through on her affordable housing commitments,” said Budget Chair HiIlary Ronen. “I urge the Mayor to hold up her end of the deal, including acquisition of 400 Divisadero, building teacher housing in the Mission, and funding emergency public housing and SRO elevator repairs. We cannot have these delays in creating affordable housing.”
The administration’s backtracking on its commitment comes as the Board of Supervisors considers adopting a new Housing Element, set for a vote this coming Tuesday, January 24th. The draft Housing Element requires San Francisco to plan to build 82,069 housing units by the year 2031, more than 46,500 of which must be affordable. That target for affordable production is nearly triple the total of the previous cycle ending in 2022, with the city coming up woefully short, producing only half of the goal.
“There’s no way we can claim to be serious about ambitious new targets for affordable housing while staying silent in the face of this kind of obstruction by the Mayor,” Preston said. “It is beyond outrageous that we’re losing opportunity sites because of petty politics. I urge the Mayor to change course, stop obstructing affordable housing at 400 Divisadero and beyond, and honor her commitments before we lose more sites.”
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