SAN FRANCISCO—Mayor London Breed announced on Thursday, March 11 that the city began Phase 2 of revitalizing San Francisco’s Potrero HOPE community by beginning construction to almost 1,700 units of housing.
The public announcement indicated that Phase 2 is comprised of 3.96 acres of land south of Potrero Terrace and Annex Public Housing site.
“Construction of infrastructure improvements at the site is critical to supporting the development of two new residential buildings, meeting the goals of the Potrero Hill Master Plan and transforming Potrero into a vibrant, unified, mixed-income development. BRIDGE Housing is the project sponsor for Potrero HOPE SF,” the announcement said.
The Potrero Hill Master Plan, the Mayor’s Office said, will “rebuild 619 units of distressed public housing and create an additional 155 affordable homes and approximately 800 market-rate units with a range of affordability, as well as community facilities, retail, open space, and neighborhood services.”
The Mayor’s Office indicated the Potrero Hill Master Plan will be completed by 2035 in a total of five construction and development phases.
The HOPE SF project is “the nation’s first large-scale community development and reparations initiative aimed at creating vibrant, inclusive, mixed-income communities without mass displacement of the original residents,” said the Mayor’s Office.
According to the announcement, two of the sites, Alice Griffith and Hunters View, have substantially completed their public housing transformation, “with Hunters View expected to start its final major infrastructure phase later this year.”
Potrero Hill and Sunnydale, the other two sites, are currently in the middle of a multi-year, multi-phase transformation project, the announcement said.
“The four primary goals of HOPE SF are to build racially and economically inclusive neighborhoods, recognize the power of residents to lead their communities, increase economic and educational advancement, and create healthy communities,” the Mayor’s Office noted.
These four goals guide the HOPE SF project, the Mayor’s Office said, in order to place its residents first and empower and organize the community.
Phase 2, the announcement said, will cost $29 million and provide 157 housing units, “The City’s investment of $29 million in the Phase 2 infrastructure improvements will benefit future residents of the site by increasing vital connections to the rest of the City, but also residents of the surrounding neighborhood.”
Construction on the 25th, 26th, Wisconsin, and Connecticut Streets will be completed by the spring of 2022, the Mayor’s Office said.
“A number of major street improvements are part of the infrastructure plan as well, including an Arkansas Street extension, regrading slopes, and preparing for a realigned street grid. There will also be numerous other streetscape upgrades that improve safety and quality of experience,” noted the announcement.
The Mayor’s Office said that Phase 1 was completed in June of 2019, and “The abatement and demolition of the existing eight buildings within the footprint of Phase 2 were completed in June 2020 and the area is currently vacant.”
