Affordable housing for San Francisco Unified School District teachers is one step closer to becoming a reality after the Board of Education recently approved ground lease agreements for the project.
Back in 2017, the school district entered into an agreement with the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development to develop affordable housing for teachers at a site in the city’s Sunset District, located at 1360 43rd Ave.
The site will be developed by MidPen Housing Corporation. Once completed, the site will be called Shirley Chisolm Village and provide 135 housing units for teachers.
The two ground lease agreements approved by the board during last Thursday’s special meeting will secure the site for 75 years, with options to extend the leases for an additional 24-year term.
The two leases consist of one for low-income housing, and another for moderate income housing.
“Our city has some of the highest rents and housing prices in the country yet we receive the same funding from the state as other more affordable California cities,” board President Gabriela Lopez said in a statement on Monday.
“We need local revenue and support to help keep our educators housed. I am grateful for the partnership between the city and SFUSD to provide more options for our staff to find affordable housing,” she said.
“We believe that when educators are able to live in the community in which they work it promotes more stability for staffing, community involvement and stronger ties between teachers and families,” SFUSD Superintendent Vincent Matthews said. “These lease agreements are a significant step toward realizing our efforts to offer more affordable housing opportunities to SFUSD staff.”