Significant construction progress has been made for the nine-story affordable housing complex at 1515 South Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco’s Mission District. The full-concrete frame is close to topping out, with facade installation yet to start. Chinatown Community Development Center and the Mission Economic Development Agency are jointly responsible for the project.
Construction started in mid-April of last year, with a groundbreaking ceremony attended by Mayor Daniel Lurie, Supervisor Jackie Fielder, and the development team. Completion is expected by early 2027, with work overseen by a joint venture with Guzman Construction Group and Marinship.
1515 South Van Ness Avenue, rendering by David Baker Architects
1515 South Van Ness Avenue view with Bernal Heights visible in the background, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson
Speaking at the ceremony, CCDC Executive Director Malcolm Yeung said, “Chinatown CDC is proud to once again partner with the Mission Economic Development Agency and the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development on this incredible project at 1515 South Van Ness—the largest affordable housing development in the Mission in two decades.”
MEDA CEO Luis Granados emphasized that the project, “not only creates affordable homes, but also anchors vital community resources like early childhood education and workforce support. This project reflects our place-based strategy for housing stabilization in the Mission District and opens pathways to economic mobility for families, individuals, and small businesses.”
1515 South Van Ness Avenue rounded facade along Shotwell Street, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson
1515 South Van Ness Avenue pedestrian view along Shotwell Street, rendering by David Baker Architects
Once complete, the nine-story structure is expected to yield over 200,000 square feet, with 189,110 square feet for housing and 5,600 square feet for a community non-profit. Unit types will vary greatly, with 15 studios, 32 one-bedrooms, 77 two-bedrooms, and 44 three-bedrooms. Parking will be included for 141 bicycles. The ground floor will include space for Wu Yee Children’s Services and Nuevo Sol. Wu Yee is an early childhood education center, and Nuevo Sol is a nonprofit serving day labor and domestic workers.
David Baker Architects and Y.A. Studio are collaborating on the design for 1515 South Van Ness. While facade installation has not yet begun, several notable structural elements of the design are already evident, with the double-height lobby at the corner of 26th Street and the curved wall along Shotwell Street. The exterior will eventually be wrapped with a mix of glazed tiles, stucco, sunshades, and decorative metal screens.
1515 South Van Ness Avenue construction elevation, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson
1515 South Van Ness Avenue construction progress seen from an adjacent property, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson
1515 South Van Ness Avenue site map, illustration by David Baker Architects
The 0.8-acre property is positioned along South Van Ness Avenue between 26th Street and Cesar Chavez Street. The project is next to Casa Adelante at 1296 Shotwell Street, another affordable housing complex developed by CCDC and MEDA. Future residents will be less than ten minutes away from the 24th Street Mission BART Station on foot.
The project is estimated to cost around $167.7 million, with financing provided by the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, the California Department of Housing and Community Development, and the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. Completion is expected in early 2027.
Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail
Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews
At almost $1 million a unit, the Mission DESPERATLY needs to be up-zoned. These numbers are not sustainable. The city can’t afford to provide such services at the expense of never recouping those costs while blaming “greed” on others.
The hypocrisy is bleeding the city of being able to provide much more valuable services. Simply build, add to the tax base, embrace mixed-income housing, and allow the city to grow. The hundreds of empty storefronts are a testament to the fact that this system is broken. If you want to tax the rich to oblivion, you have to at least provide space for them to live to pursue such an agenda.
I can’t speak to whether more of the status quo is what SF needs, but this process needs at least one new variable in the mix to sustain itself, and that is achieved by adding more of what we exploit.
The price tag has more to do with construction costs—labor, materials, city fees—but yes also up-zone. The Family Zoning Plan (the Mission was not included) is a good first step. Reasonable property tax reform could help, but building more would obv be the *simplest way to generate revenue for BMR housing projects.
I think SF’s status quo is exactly what got us here. Well-intentioned or otherwise, we’ve let far too many ill-informed people persuade and control housing production with really ineffective outcomes (even in neighborhoods like the Mission which have created some of the highest volume of BMR housing) by blocking hundreds of market-rate units and delaying and even stalling affordable projects over menial disputes.
Very much agree that the full cost of the project is not just for the residential. A solid chunk goes towards the other two uses on the ground floor. But even then, we are promising the world with no means to fund it.
Wasting money to reopen a dead highway. Connie Chan exists… A ‘pro-development’ mayor vowing to block the Marina project before the ink even dries. If hypocrisy were a city, San Francisco would be the capital.
Sorry dude, you’re just not going to scrape La Mision without a fight. No one living there wants Mission Bay. Mission Bay is fine in Mission Bay, but not in THE Mission. Sorry, not sorry.
Like most articles, you honestly should sit your a** down on this one.
Abandoned buildings in the Mission are a better look than livable homes in Mission Bay? Maybe finish building out the one neighborhood before comparing a dead Walgreens to an empty lot.
Here are some properties for your consideration:
– 2205 Mission St. (10+ years
– 3067-3071 (Been in disrepair for almost 20 years)
– 2874 16th St (Took a decade to repair)
490 South Van Ness looks a heck of a lot better as housing than a cruddy gas station. Make Mission Cabins into real houses instead of garden sheds. The property at 1979 Mission St can easily house 300+ people if the right building were planned. Is that parking lot at 344 14th St too historic? Or are we trying to preserve the beauty of the barbed wire fence as junkies camp out around the Armory?
If you want to consolidate poverty, cool, welcome to the intersection of 16th and Mission. I’d rather provide new housing opportunities so locals can remain in their beloved neighborhoods while adding some resilience to their customer base.
Unions make it so expensive. With all the immigrants we have we could build at half the price twice as fast. Don’t vote for union mafia candidates, vote for those who have a plan to use the immigrant workforce for the most productivity possible.
Very much so in the trades, union labor is skilled and well trained. Non-union labor less so. The axiom “you get what you pay for” applies here.