THE FIRST AFFORDABLE HOUSING in San Francisco just for teachers and other employees of the San Francisco Unified School District was welcomed last week to the city’s Sunset District.
Dozens of community leaders and educators celebrated the grand opening of the 135-unit Shirley Chisholm Village, five blocks from Ocean Beach amid rows of stucco homes emblematic of the city’s West Side.
“When teachers and their families live in San Francisco, it means more time at school, more time with students,” Mayor Daniel Lurie said. “Our SFUSD educators will be able to stay late to lead a club, and it means a shorter commute home so that they can be with their own families.”
The modern, five-story apartment buildings at 1360 43rd Ave. span 1.4 acres near the N-Judah Muni line.
It contains a mix of sizes from studios to three-bedroom units. Amenities include a courtyard, off-street parking, gym and an on-site afterschool center.
Shirley Chisholm Village was developed by MidPen Housing, a non-profit that specializes in developing and managing affordable housing in northern California.
It serves individuals and families with incomes ranging from 30% to 120% of the area’s median income.
“We have the best income mix of any development that MidPen’s ever done in our 55 years,” company President Matthew Franklin said. “We know from our experience that those are the healthiest communities.”
Friday’s celebration marked more than 10 years of planning and work to make Shirley Chisholm Village a reality. Local leaders, educators, and those involved in the project’s development gave speeches and toured the complex.
“This was an idea, a dream, that started 20 years ago,” SFUSD Superintendent Maria Hsu said. “What an incredible day today that you have this inspiring moment in the city where we can say that San Francisco cares about our educators and San Francisco cares about public schools.”
Shirley Chisholm Village began welcoming residents in late 2024, including Erik McIlvoy, a teacher at A.P. Giannini Middle School.
McIlvoy moved into a two-bedroom unit with his wife and two kids after living in an in-law unit a with little natural light and possible mold growth. He even considered moving to the Midwest to be near family and improve his cost of living.
“We love San Francisco, but we were feeling a bit pulled by family and the enticing cheaper cost of living in other places,” he said. “But when the opportunity to live here arose and eventually came true, it allowed us to choose to keep building roots here in SF.”
Inside McIlvoy’s apartment, large windows offer a clear view of the Pacific Ocean and the playground down below.
“The shared spaces are thoughtfully designed. I have big windows, nice cabinetry, new floors,” McIlvoy said. “It’s not a huge space, but it’s very usable.”
Shirley Chisholm Village is also the first 100% affordable housing project to open in the Sunset District in over a decade.
Zoning restrictions and local resistance over housing density have historically stalled affordable housing in this part of the city, according to Housing Balance Reports from the San Francisco Planning Department.
Joel Engardio is the supervisor for District 4, which includes the Sunset District. He hopes Shirley Chisholm Village will quell concerns of some neighborhood residents.
“There’s a lot of fear around height and density. To see this building might help people see that it’s not that scary, that apartment buildings don’t ruin a neighborhood,” Engardio said. “We cannot be the most progressive city that fears change. We must be the most progressive city that embraces the future.”