Mayor London Breed Celebrates Groundbreaking Of 96 Reasonably priced Houses For Previously Homeless As Half Of The Plumbers Union Mission

March 04, 2021

New homes at 53 Colton Street offer comprehensive support services and stable homes to 96 adults who have been released from homelessness

San Francisco, CA. – Mayor of London N. Breed today announced the groundbreaking ceremony for a new affordable housing complex at 53 Colton Street that will house 96 homeless people. This project is part of a new mixed use development on 1629 Market Street also known as the Plumbers Union Project. The new houses at 53 Colton, along with the construction of a further 499 residential units, are an essential part of the revitalization of the larger “Hub” district around the intersection of Market Street and Van Ness Avenue.

Development is fueling the city’s economic recovery strategy, which aims to create new jobs and invest in infrastructure that will ensure the post-COVID-19 economy in San Francisco becomes fairer and more resilient than before. The development of 96 new affordable housing units for San Francisco’s most vulnerable residents advances several recommendations from the City Economic Recovery Task Force and illustrates San Francisco’s efforts to retain and support residents. The overall project of the Plumbers Union is estimated at 1,200 jobs in the construction industry.

“With projects like this one at 53 Colton, we will recover from this pandemic and return even stronger than before – by building affordable housing, creating good construction jobs and helping our most vulnerable residents,” said Mayor Breed. “To fuel our economic recovery and make San Francisco a more affordable place to live, we need to continue our efforts to create new homes and level out decades of substructure. The Plumbers Union Project is the kind of innovative partnership that shows this. I’d like to thank all partners who have worked together over the years to get us to this point of construction. “

The project also expands Mayor Breed’s Homelessness Restoration Plan, which will expand the capacity of the city’s homeless response system and create 1,500 units of Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH), including the 96 units at 53 Colton Street. A total of 6,000 internships for people with homelessness will be made available over the next two years as part of the Homelessness Recovery Plan.

53 Colton is a joint venture between the Strada Investment Group and the Community Housing Partnership (CHP), a nonprofit that currently operates the Civic Center Hotel Navigation Center, which will be refurbished after 53 Colton opens in late 2022.

The Plumbers Union project, approved in December 2017, comprises six buildings – five apartment buildings and a new union hall – on 2.2 acres on Market Street bordered by 12th Street, Brady Street and Colton Street. The new open spaces include the Joseph P. Mazzola Gardens, a plaza and passageways in the center of the block, while restored historic facades along Market Street will anchor the 11,000-square-foot retail space. The publicly and privately funded project is being developed by Strada in collaboration with the Plumbers and Pipefitters Union Local 38 and its pension fund.

“Providing new affordable housing units online in 53 Colton to stabilize nearly 100 of our most vulnerable residents is critical to our city’s recovery from COVID and our homeless crisis,” said Supervisor Matt Haney. “Supportive housing is our best tool in ending homelessness, and the Community Housing Partnership has a long history of providing quality services. I am excited to celebrate another affordable development in District 6.”

As part of the larger development deal with the city, the Plumbers Union project also worked with the Mayor’s Office for Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) to obtain 66 affordable units in the South Beach Marina Apartments that would otherwise have become obsolete.

“UA Local 38 is a proud partner in this transformative development,” said Larry Mazzola Jr., Business Manager and Treasurer of Plumbers and Pipefitters Union Local 38’s Treasurer. “The project will create much-needed housing and union jobs right on our doorstep new headquarters. “

“Our mission at Community Housing Partnership is to create permanent homes for people affected by homelessness,” said Rick Aubry, chief executive officer at Community Housing Partnership. “The challenge in San Francisco is big, and the solution requires us all to work together. We have partnered with the Mayor and City of San Francisco, Strada, lenders, the state and tax credit investors to achieve the goal. to hand over a bunch of keys to our first tenants in 2022. “

“53 Colton is part of a unique partnership between the public, nonprofit and private sectors and organized labor that will provide nearly 600 housing units, a new union hall and a key public park,” said Michael Cohen, founding partner of Strada. “Our ability to secure funding and begin building the pandemic is testament to the strength of this partnership.”

Critical permanent funding for 53 Colton was provided through a $ 4 million investment from MOHCD that allowed the $ 52.5 million project to move forward, as well as low-income residential property tax credits and a Department of Housing and Community Development of the State of California – Apartment Building Home Loans. Units are backed by a city-funded contract through a local subsidy program for operations, and homeless applicants are referred to development through the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing Department’s coordinated entry system.

“We welcome the addition of this permanent supportive shelter that will be life-changing for the ex-homeless adults who will be housed here,” said Abigail Stewart-Kahn, interim director of the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “As the process progresses, the healing power of PSH offers people a chance to develop during the transition from homelessness.”

This news release was prepared by the office of the Mayor of San Francisco. The views expressed here are the author’s own.