A San Francisco public housing redevelopment initiative has struggled to live up to its hype since its launch eight years ago.
HOPE SF is currently focusing on four existing developments in or near the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood of the city. The four properties will be redeveloped into almost 4,700 units of mixed-income housing, retaining 1,914 units for public housing residents. Bayview is a neighborhood known for it’s crime and poverty.
Currently rebuilding is underway at two sites, with 2016 and 2017 planned start dates for two additional redevelopments.
Hunters View, the pilot site, began construction in 2012, with the first 25 units occupied in December of that year. Currently a total of 107 rental units are occupied on site, including 80 public housing replacement units and 27 affordable units financed with low income credits. The project’s developer was John Stewart and Company.
At Alice Griffith, infrastructure upgrades began in early 2014, with construction of the first units commencing in early 2015.
Construction is planned to begin at Potrero next year and at Sunnydale in 2017.
All of these developments were initially built to be temporary barracks and were constructed using cheap materials. More than 50 percent of the units are said to have internal damage. Additionally, the plumbing and electrical systems and other on-site infrastructure are severely “antiquated and deteriorated.”
According to Shelterforce, two-thirds of the public housing population in the four HOPE SF sites lives below the poverty level, with an average annual income is $17,000.
