Organized Labor

$54 Million, 136-Unit Apartment Complex Being Developed by Mercy Housing California

By Paul Burton
Contributing Writer

Mercy Housing California is developing a new affordable housing project at 10th and Mission. The former parking lot will become a 12-story, 136-unit apartment building for low-income families. An adjacent project at 9th and Jessie, an 11-story building with 107 apartments for very low-income seniors ages 62 or older, will begin construction in mid-June.

The 10th and Mission Family Housing apartments are being set aside for households earning 15 percent to 45 percent of the area's median income (AMI). Forty-four of the units will be targeted for occupancy by chronically homeless families referred by the City. The building will have 34 one-bedroom, 42 two-bedroom, and 60 three-bedroom apartments, including a manager's unit, over 13,000 square feet of secure open space, a multi-purpose room, property management offices and a 23-car parking garage.

The 9th and Jessie Senior Housing units will be affordable to seniors at or below 50 percent AMI. The federal Housing and Urban Development 202 Program will subsidize 95 of the units and the San Francisco Department of Health will subsidize 11 units, according to the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency.

Twenty-seven of the senior units will be targeted for occupancy by homeless seniors referred by the City.

The project will include 20 studio apartments, 86 one-bedroom apartments, one three-bedroom staff unit, a 400 square foot health clinic operated by South of Market Health Clinic for residents only, a community room, computer lab, lobby, and 4,000 square feet of secure, landscaped outdoor space on the first and second floors.

Construction is set to start in mid-June, with occupancy targeted for Spring 2010.

Housing Developer Ramie Dare with Mercy Housing said that the 10th and Market development will feature a 5,400 square foot youth and family center and about 3,000 square feet of ground-floor neighborhood retail space, enough for two to four retail tenants. The project will have 200,000 square feet total space. The site is close to the Civic Center, services and employment centers, MUNI lines and BART.
Dare said that Mercy Housing will offer services to tenants at the site. "We have one, two, and three bedroom apartments for families and expect to have a lot of children there," she said. "The youth and family center will be a secure place for the kids for after school activities and family support programs."

Apartments offered to the formerly homeless will be partially subsidized by the San Francisco Human Services Agency, Dare said. She said Catholic Charities Catholic Youth Organization (CCCYO) will provide on-site case management services for all residents, with focus on the formerly homeless households. CCCYO and Mercy Housing are working with the San Francisco Department of Public Health and Human Services Agency in the service planning. At the 10th and Mission Family development, CCCYO will manage a youth and family center that will be located on the ground floor. The center will house educational and recreational activities for the youth and adult residents of the property and will be open to neighborhood youth as well.

At the 9th and Jessie Senior development, the South of Market Health Center will operate a satellite primary health clinic for residents of both facilities.

The non-profit Mercy Housing has developed affordable housing across the nation since 1981. The company focuses on development of supportive, single-room occupancy housing for the formerly homeless, multifamily, affordable rental homes, single-family homes, high-rise, mixed-use properties, and preservation and rehabilitation developments.

Dare said that Mercy Housing works with contractors who have the skills and experience for each particular project, which are usually union contractors.

Mercy Housing partnered with San Francisco-based Cahill Contractors to develop the project. Cahill's Senior Project Manger Jess Robertson said that the company is a signatory to master agreements with the Carpenters, Laborers and Operating Engineers unions. The union contractor also has brought in union subcontractors for the project. Subcontractors include Peck and Hiller for concrete forms, RPS for steel reinforcement, MAP Fire Protection, Raymond Interior Systems (drywall), Decker Electric, and Western Heating and Plumbing.

Robertson said the site broke ground in August 2007 and will be completed by August 2009. Crews were working on the sixth level in early June. Robertson said about 70 construction workers were currently on the job.

The 10th and Mission project is also one of several projects being developed under San Francisco's Green Communities Criteria. According to the SFRDA, "The Green Communities Criteria raises the bar for affordable housing providers in sustainable development through proven, cost-effective building strategies, without burdening developers with undue complexity or infeasible costs."

According to Enterprise Community Partners, the nonprofit that provided loans to build the Plaza Apartments under the Green Communities Criteria, "The 4,300 homes in the Green Communities development pipeline will reduce costs and consumption compared to conventionally built homes, including $1.5 million in energy savings per year ($350 savings per household), more than 5,000 tons in reduced greenhouse gas emissions per year (2,340 fewer pounds per household), and 30 million gallons in reduced water use per year (7,000 fewer gallons per household)."

Dare said that Mercy Housing was awarded a grant from Enterprise to include green building techniques in the project. She said Mercy Housing isn't seeking LEED certification, but is including many of the criteria for LEED eligibility in the project, including use of high efficiency boilers, venting, use of some green materials, and recycling construction debris.

The $54 million project is funded by a loan from the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency's Citywide Tax-Increment Housing fund, a 99-year land lease after the Agency's purchase of the site and the issuing of bonds. All combined the Agency has committed over $62 Million for the creation of the two projects. Dare said the Mayor's Office of Housing also provided funds. The state of California provided funding from the Affordable Housing bond measure passed in 2006. The project also received funding from a Union Bank Construction loan and California Bank and Trust.