Plans are pivoting once again for 2700 Sloat Boulevard in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset neighborhood. The latest filing could create nearly seven hundred units of affordable housing, along with a potential ground-floor grocery store and public parking, across from the city’s zoo and close to Ocean Beach. Raelynn Hickey of Nevada-based CH Planning LLC is once more responsible for the application.
The latest proposal aims to replace the Sloat Garden Center with two 24-story apartment buildings, including 397 units in the West Building and 285 units in the East Building. Full build-out will produce 682 units of affordable housing, alongside a below-grade public garage. Parking will include space for 52 cars, 288 bicycles, and a bicycle repair station. Of the 682 units, 546 will be deed-restricted as affordable to households earning around 80% of the area’s median income, and 136 units will be for households earning around 120% of the area’s median income.
2700 Sloat Boulevard pedestrian view, illustration by SCB
2700 Sloat Boulevard cross-section, illustration by SCB
The roughly 255-foot-tall complex will yield around 467,610 square feet, including 443,020 square feet for housing, around 10,460 square feet for retail, and 15,470 square feet for the basement garage. Apartment sizes will vary, with 427 studios, 196 one-bedrooms, 33 two-bedrooms, and 26 three-bedrooms. Most units will have access to a private or semi-private terrace. Shared amenities will be included around the landscaped third-floor podium-top deck and rooftop terraces.
Speaking with YIMBY last month, Hickey shared that the team has been working with a grocery store chain to occupy 16,000 square feet on the ground floor. This would be a deviation from the recent plans, which allocate 10,460 square feet for commercial retail. Final information about the potential grocery store has not been finalized.
2700 Sloat Boulevard floor plan, illustration by SCB
Two months ago, Kevin V. Nguyen reported for the San Francisco Standard that the Reno-based company recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Nevada. Nguyen added that, “by filing for Chapter 11, Raelynn Hickey has left the door open for 2700 Sloat Holding to renegotiate terms with its lender, Loan Oak Fund, which moved to foreclose on the property this year after the Hickeys defaulted on a $10.2 million loan.” The bankruptcy came a month after Loan Oak Fund failed to auction off the property.
Prior to submitting plans for the fully affordable housing version of 2700 Sloat Boulevard, the project team shared a mixed-use iteration that was briefly pursued, which would have created 550 units of housing and a 132-key hotel. The guest rooms would have occupied floors 15 through 24 of each tower. Housing would remain on floors three through 14, and retail would be included on the first and second floors. Plans for the hotel were eliminated, with the 132 guest rooms converted into housing.
2700 Sloat Boulevard aerial view of the structure overlooking the Zoo, illustration by SCB
Solomon Cordwell Buenz is responsible for the design. New renderings have yet to be shared, although updated elevations show that the overall scheme for the two 24-story structures has not noticeably changed, retaining the 24-story curtain wall facade overlooking Sloat Boulevard and stepped terraces that reach down to the third floor over Wawona Street.
The previous developers, Housing America Partners and San Francisco Housing Development Corporation, confirmed with YIMBY that they are no longer involved with the project.
2700 Sloat Street, image via Google Satellite, outlined by SFYIMBY
CH Planning has invoked Assembly Bill 2011 to streamline the approval process, allowing for ministerial by-right approval for eligible affordable housing on commercially-zoned land. Construction is expected to cost around $150 million, with groundbreaking as early as mid-2026.
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Y E S !
Sloat Garden Center is my home away from home. Where can I overspend for garden supplies?
P.S. The condominium complex directly to the west has been available for several years: no commercial spaces have ever been rented.
It will be interesting seeing the dichotomy of the predominantly NIMBY Sunset electorate play out in local issues in coming years:
1. Poplar opposition to the new Great Highway park and recall of their Supervisor
2. Popular support for Lurie in the last election
3. Lurie’s Family Housing upzoning plan that will likely cause widespead revolt amongst the Sunset electorate
4. Potential allyship from development skeptical SF unions and other nonprofits
Peskin cynically pointed this out in the latest SF Chron article on the Family Housing plan, which he opposes. As a reminder, Peskin is a landlord and conistently blocks housing below Telegraph Hill to protect the view.
I hope the Lurie admin pushes this thorugh no matter what the political headwinds may be.
Get it done! I hate how long it takes to build anything in CA.
682 units and only 52 spaces for cars, there is something wrong with this math. Where do you expect people to park?? I understand the idea of people using mass transit, but the math on this is wrong.
Why stop at 24 stories? And why is there so much parking?
Do it. Do it. Do it.
This will play out as a perfect illustration of why you can’t negotiate with NIMBYs. Many will lie as say “I support more housing, but it has to be affordable housing”, and then when subsidized units are proposed, they still come out against them.
lol still sticking with those north-facing balconies…those things are going to be cooooold
more seriously, what’s the elevation at this site? do below-grade floors make sense given imminent sea level rise?
It’s ~33ft above sea level, which is ~20ft higher than the area around Embarcadero station or the Marina.
The city and especially the Outer Sunset area needs affordable housing.
The project provides 427 studios. 80% of the affordable studio apartments will be rented at 80% AMI maximum rent. The Mayor’s Office of Housing lists the 2025 80% AMI rent for a studio apartment at $1,996 per month.
The project also includes 196 1 bedroom apartments. 80% of the affordable 1 bedroom apartments will be rented at 80% AMI maximum rent. The Mayor’s Office of Housing lists the 2025 80% AMI Rent for a 1 Bedroom Apartment at $2,215 per month.
If you grew up or want to live in the Outer Sunset, good luck trying to find a decent place to live, let alone at those prices. They can do their grocery shopping right downstairs and won’t need to go to Lucky’s. This is a great development that will allow people to live in the Outer Sunset at rents far below market rate.
However, this is detrimental to families and legacy residents in the following ways, etc., etc., etc.
Sorry to say to those who hate change, but the only way we can afford a livable lifestyle for future generations, residents, and transplants alike is by building up. Still plenty of land needing development closer to the city’s core, but sprinkling development all over is a net positive for the city as a whole.
This project NEEDS to happen.
Sorry to say to those who hate change, but the only way we can afford a livable lifestyle for future generations, residents, and transplants alike is by building up. Still plenty of land needing development closer to the city’s core, but sprinkling development all over is a net positive for the city as a whole.
This project NEEDS to happen.
Damn glitch in the Matrix
This is fine, and we can upzone Taraval or whatever, but what we really need is a creative program to get the the single family homeowners in the Sunset to demolish their homes, build a four story multi-unit on the land, and then move back in again. Some sort of creative financing option that’s facilitated by the city + private developers where everyone wins: the homeowner owns perhaps their unit and one other, the city owns the first level and an ADU as affordable housing. Obviously this is a crazy idea, but we need creative “win win” solutions to get the Sunset to build up. The vast majority of the land in the Sunset is not on Taraval, but are these super low density homes.
This site on Sloat has been zoned with a 100 foot height limit for 50 years. Per the filing with the city, they’re using a State Density Bonus law program that allows very high density for 100% affordable housing developments as long as it is built within 1/2 mile of a major transit stop. The idea is to promote conveniently located affordable housing and less private ownership of cars. This project has nothing to do with any proposed upzoning or demolishing homes and the Garden Center sold them the property back in 2020 for development.
The Affordable Housing this project provides is badly needed AND NO ONE IS BEING DISPLACED.
BUILD IT!
I’m not sure the pokey L Taraval stop is a “major transit stop.”