This year, TNDC was recognized by Affordable Housing Finance Magazine as #29 of America’s Top 50 Affordable Housing Developers - with good reason. In the last few months TNDC’s busy Housing Development Department has celebrated the Grand Openings of two new developments that will provide more than 190 new homes for formerly homeless and low-income people in this community.
990 Polk Street
A beautiful new building at 990 Polk Street provides 110 affordable homes for formerly homeless and low-income seniors in the Tenderloin neighborhood. This award-winning design was developed in partnership with Citizens Housing Corporation and represents an innovative approach to address homelessness by combining services-rich supportive housing units within a larger low-income population. 50 of 990 Polk Street’s 110 affordable units are set aside for formerly homeless seniors.
“Diversity in the building does not just extend to race and gender, but encompasses background too––we are housing people who have never had that experience. A diverse population is healthy for everyone,” said Don Falk, TNDC’s Executive Director.
With ground floor retail space to help revitalize the neighborhood and offices for on-site resident support service providers, the building also includes a large solarium, a community room with a kitchen, a computer center, and ample outdoor patio and community garden space, making it a pleasant and bright home for its resident community.
“I love how much natural light the building gets,” said Don, commenting on the efficient use of its corner lot positioning and the creative layout of the units that captures sunlight from many different angles. “And the terraced roof affords two large common areas for the 990 Polk community to enjoy the outdoors. It’s a very livable space.”
“Before construction, the site was very blighted – it was an unused dry cleaner and parking lot, with a pay phone that was frequented by drug dealers. Now look at the space.”
Arnett Watson Apartments
Built in partnership with Community Housing Partnership (CHP) on what was formerly a parking lot, Arnett Watson Apartments at 650 Eddy Street provides 83 affordable units for formerly homeless individuals and families. The building incorporates a community room with a kitchen, outdoor courtyards, a laundry room, and a commercial space. The building will be owned and operated by CHP, who will provide property management and support services to its tenants.
“When TNDC gained control of the site, we asked Community Housing Partnership to partner with us because we have so much respect for their expertise managing 100% formerly homeless housing,” said Don. “TNDC managed most of the development process, then turned the building over to CHP once it was ready for occupancy.”
The building is named for Arnett Watson, who worked as an organizer at the Coalition on Homelessness and was an advocate for homeless people and social justice until her death in 2003. She was one of the original tenants of CHP housing.
A Bleak Future?
Because TNDC focuses on a population that matches the City and County of San Francisco’s priorities––low-income and special needs housing––our mission aligns with City policy. Due in part to this common goal, over the span of the last 6 years TNDC has been able to secure site control and finance more than a dozen buildings.
“It’s a virtuous cycle,” said Don. “As we successfully develop projects, we gain credibility with funders about our ability to execute, and the City and others approve financing when we identify a site for our next project. We’ve built our organizational capacity in both personnel and expertise to enable us to keep adding to our development pipeline in this way.”
But, as Don is quick to emphasize, in addition to the availability of sites and TNDC’s organizational capacity to take them on, there is a third component that is necessary to get new affordable housing developments off the ground: capital. “And while TNDC is organizationally prepared and capable of taking on more projects, the capital required is not as available as it once was.”
“It’s sad that there is so little public money to acquire property at a time when prices have plunged. Moreover, the City has had to suspend its financing commitments to four of TNDC’s projects, totaling over 500 family units. It could be five to ten years before we’re developing ten projects at a time again.”
