Revitalization of a 50-year-old, cooperative-owned affordable housing community and development of new mixed-use space in San Francisco’s Fillmore District/Western Addition, a neighborhood of historical and cultural significance for the city’s African American residents.
Property Size
1,380 rental apartments
920 for-sale residential condominiums
150 hotel rooms
80,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space
Local Population Density
46,100 people/square mile
Highlights
Serving as co-developer with Avanath Capital Management, Marinship Development, Freedom West Homes Corporation and Bethel AME Church.
Will redevelop four city blocks of multifamily housing on 10 acres, just three blocks from City Hall. The property is owned by Freedom West Homes, a housing cooperative established in 1973 by the Rev. J. Austell Hall of Bethel AME Church to provide affordable housing and economic empowerment for local residents in the wake of the destruction caused by government-sponsored urban renewal efforts in the late 1950s and 1960s.
Intend to replace the cooperative’s 382 existing housing units, which have fallen into disrepair, with 382 newly built units with modern amenities and more space at no additional cost to cooperative members.
Will develop another 133 rental units that will be designated as affordable housing for low- and moderate-income residents, along with more than 1,700 market-rate rental apartments and for-sale residential condominiums, a 150-room hotel/conference center and 80,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space.
Members of the Freedom West Homes cooperative will participate in profits from the operation of the to-be-built market-rate apartments and commercial space as part of the cooperative’s long-term financial plan.
Revitalized community will also include a performing-arts center, up to 110,000 square feet of open space and a 6,000-square-foot STEM innovation center to help residents access high-paying jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities.
Transformative plan could serve as a model for achieving racial equity and economic parity for low- and moderate-income residents of color in high-cost/high-opportunity cities nationwide.
Sustainability
Designed to achieve a minimum of LEED-Silver certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.
Source: MacFarlane Partners
