{"id":28492,"date":"2023-09-15T12:20:18","date_gmt":"2023-09-15T19:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=28492"},"modified":"2023-09-15T12:20:20","modified_gmt":"2023-09-15T19:20:20","slug":"state-grants-favor-fewer-cars-more-housing-for-sf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/09\/15\/state-grants-favor-fewer-cars-more-housing-for-sf\/","title":{"rendered":"State grants favor fewer cars, more housing for SF"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/users\/profile\/Allyson%20Aleksey\">By Allyson Aleksey | Examiner staff writer<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sep 14, 2023\u00a0Updated\u00a013 hrs ago  (SFExaminer.com)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/sfexaminer.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/b\/e4\/be41dd2e-533d-11ee-acdd-bbf82fe1c60f\/65036e941d9e0.image.png?resize=400%2C271\" alt=\"Transbay Block East housing development\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">California gave The City more than $163 million in funding for affordable housing projects, like the mixed-use development at 200 Folsom St. pictured in a rendering above, that will add 1,200 housing units to San Francisco.&nbsp;Courtesy of Kennerly Architecture and Planning<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>San Francisco is getting more than $150 million to build 1,200 new homes with an eye on accessibility to public transit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mayor London Breed announced the $163.6 million windfall on Wednesday, which comes from various state agencies, including the California Department of Housing and Community Development. The money is dispersed through two separate programs: the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sgc.ca.gov\/programs\/ahsc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities<\/a>&nbsp;program, which funds housing projects within a high walkability index near bike lanes and transit, and the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hcd.ca.gov\/grants-and-funding\/programs-active\/infill-infrastructure-grant\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Infill Infrastructure Grant Program<\/a>, which promotes transforming urban open spaces like parking lots into housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-datawrapper wp-block-embed-datawrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" title=\"Affordable housing projects funded by state grants\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/AEW3d\/2\/#?secret=utNISWSnL7\" data-secret=\"utNISWSnL7\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"609\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Together, the two programs fund projects that prioritize public transportation. Both BART and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, two of the largest agencies serving commuters in The City, lauded the extra funding as an investment in mass transit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the agencies were thrown a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/transit\/bart-grateful-for-public-transit-aid-in-california-budget\/article_e74c0a76-151e-11ee-aca3-573cfb7df415.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lifeline this summer<\/a>, both continue to fall short of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/politics\/sf-leaders-call-for-major-state-bailout-of-muni-bart\/article_6f810a36-de06-11ed-89f4-97807bce228a.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pre-pandemic ridership levels.<\/a>&nbsp;At the same time, traffic congestion on the Bay Bridge and highways&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/article\/transit-traffic-safety-bart-17870043.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">continues to plague morning commutes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe best way for us to address regional traffic problems is to build more housing so more people who work in San Francisco can live in San Francisco,\u201d SFMTA Director of Transportation Jeffrey Tumlin said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>BART General Manager Bob Powers added that \u201cthe (grant) program is a package of strategic investments that will increase reliability and prepare BART for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Affordable Housing and Sustainability Communities program would direct nearly $119 million to three projects building 435 affordable housing units, while $45 million from the Infill Infrastructure Grant would fund support three ongoing projects \u2014&nbsp;Potrero HOPE SF, Sunnydale HOPE SF and India Basin \u2014&nbsp;that are all in various stages of development. The City expects all projects to be completed by 2027, save for the Potrero project, which would be completed in 2029.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A $41 million project aims to improve housing stock near San Francisco\u2019s Transbay Transit Center \u2014 which is serviced by Greyhound, Muni, AC Transit and located not far from BART\u2019s Montgomery Station \u2014&nbsp;by converting vacant downtown commercial properties into 184 new affordable homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The City also plans to create 92 affordable homes at 850 Turk St., currently occupied by a single-story commercial parking lot adjacent to a Shell gas station. Last year, the Board of Supervisors approved the \u201cCars to Casa\u201d ordinance, which expedites new housing to replace gas stations and parking lots. Nearly $32 million in state funding will help expedite the construction of housing there, and the site will also include extensive common spaces, laundry facilities, a bike storage room, outdoor spaces and play structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most expensive project is Balboa Reservoir Building A, totaling $45.7 million, which will convert an existing parking lot into 159 affordable homes as well as a public park and child care center. The Balboa Reservoir project is a 17-acre parcel adjacent to City College that would&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sf.gov\/news\/board-supervisors-approve-mayor-breeds-legislation-expedite-new-housing-replace-gas-stations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">prioritize housing for CCSF staff<\/a>, according to the developer\u2019s mission statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sfha.org\/files\/documents\/Payment%20Standards%20-%202023.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Qualifying household income<\/a>&nbsp;for these units would range from $39,000 to $104,000 for an individual, and between $55,000 and $149,000 for a family of four.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>San Francisco must build 82,000 new units to reach its 2031 housing goals, but The City has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/housing\/at-current-permit-pace-sf-needs-263-years-to-meet-housing-element\/article_46c99b4e-51a6-11ee-a426-8fb22f94f967.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">struggled to meet permitting benchmarks<\/a>. Breed said in a statement that these grants would help advance The City\u2019s goals of building those new units within the eight-year time frame.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>San Francisco is getting more than $150 million to build 1,200 new homes with an eye on accessibility to public transit. Mayor London Breed announced the $163.6 million windfall on Wednesday, which comes from various state agencies, including the California Department of Housing and Community Development. The money is dispersed&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/09\/15\/state-grants-favor-fewer-cars-more-housing-for-sf\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28492"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28492"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28496,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28492\/revisions\/28496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}