Mayor Lee Announces Start of Construction For HopeSF Rebuild Of Alice Griffith Phases One & Two
Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced the start of construction for the first two of five phases of the historic HOPESF rebuild of Alice Griffith public housing site in Bayview Hunters Point. Once completed, the re-envisioned Alice Griffith public housing site will be a mixed-income, service-enriched community, developed according to the principles of the Mayor’s HOPESF initiative. Alice Griffith is part of the larger Hunters Point Shipyard Phase 2 and Candlestick Point development plan, which includes 10,500 new homes, with 32 percent available for rent or sale at below-market rates – a key part of the Mayor’s plan for 10,000 permanently affordable units by 2020.
“Starting construction on Alice Griffith shows that San Francisco is delivering on our promise to ensure all our residents, especially those in public housing, share in the prosperity of our City,” said Mayor Lee. “Working together with Leader Nancy Pelosi, Board President London Breed, Supervisor Malia Cohen, residents, Lennar Urban, McCormack Baron Salazar, and our Federal partners, we will provide families in need with a strong mixed income community that is inclusive, safe and vibrant, without displacing the residents. Our commitment and perseverance to build a safe and vibrant neighborhood with schools, housing, jobs and services is becoming a reality.”
“Today, we open a bold new chapter in how we rehabilitate aging and isolated public housing, and create new affordable and market rate housing for San Francisco’s working families,” said House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. “The Alice Griffith Housing Project revitalization ensures one-for-one replacement of public housing units coupled with the addition of new affordable housing – ensuring no loss of public housing and opening new possibilities for the community. We are creating good-paying construction jobs, preserving and upgrading our public housing stock, and building a thriving and economically integrated neighborhood. Backed by a $30.5 million federal Choice Neighborhoods grant, Alice Griffith is setting a strong model for our city and the nation. We must build and expand on this project’s success, and continue to improve the quality and quantity of all forms of public and affordable housing throughout our City.”
“We are proving that together we can reduce violence, stop generational and cyclical poverty in its tracks and work to build and improve social and economic outcomes for the residents of Alice Griffith.” said Supervisor Malia Cohen. “The rebuild of public housing is something that I have been fighting for since day one in office. The inclusion of the Alice Griffith community throughout the entire process speaks to what has been a truly collaborative process”.
The initiative is a community-driven partnership with the Alice Griffith Tenants’ Association, and is being implemented by the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) leading the redevelopment of the City’s most distressed public housing sites. The rebuild of the Alice Griffith Public Housing site is also part of the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure’s (OCII) redevelopment of the Hunters Point Shipyard and Candlestick Point. Lennar Urban, the Master Developer for the larger plan, selected McCormack Baron Salazar as the developer for Alice Griffith. OCII has contributed over $39 million to Alice Griffith Phases 1 and 2, with over $26 million of those funds provided by Lennar Urban.
Scheduled for completion in August 2016, Phases 1 and 2 of Alice Griffith will have 93 and 91 apartments for families, respectively each comprised of 65 percent public housing replacement and 35 percent new affordable housing (for households earning up to 50 percent Area Median Income) honoring HOPESF’s no displacement policy. In addition to McCormack Baron Salazar, the Alice Griffith Phase 1 and 2 development team includes local nonprofits San Francisco Housing Development Corporation and Tabernacle Community Development Corporation. Urban Strategies is providing on-site services to residents. The San Francisco Housing Authority has supported the development process.
As a recipient of a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Choice Neighborhoods Initiative Implementation grant, Alice Griffith was awarded $30.5 million in 2010, one of just five award recipients nationwide at the time. In advance of market rate housing, these two construction phases are the first new housing to begin construction in the Candlestick Point area. Upon completion of all phases of Alice Griffith, the 256 existing public housing units will be replaced with 256 new apartments, plus an additional 248 affordable apartments will be built. In addition to these new and replacement affordable apartments, the site will include 367 market rate units, 42 inclusionary units and 237 workforce units (serving households between 120 percent and 160 percent Area Median Income).
The next phase of development at Alice Griffith, Phase 3, will include another 122 affordable and public housing apartments and is scheduled to begin construction in late 2015.