Building a Vibrant Community in the Heart of San Francisco

U.C. Berkeley holds real estate at 55 Laguna Street in San Francisco and has asked A.F. Evans, a developer with a laudatory record of building market-rate and affordable housing in the Bay Area, to recreate the site to the benefit of the larger San Francisco community.

A fiscally sound, financially viable plan informed by the local community has been created that will preserve the historic buildings on the site by transforming them into market-rate and affordable rental apartments housing.  The plan also includes a new facility to provide sensitive, safe and supportive housing for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender seniors and their diverse range of friends in partnership with openhouse, a non-profit LGBT senior services organization.

Supportive Affordable Living for LGBT Seniors

openhouse is a nonprofit organization working to meet the long term care needs of San Francisco’s aging lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their diverse range of friends, and committed to providing mixed income, multicultural LGBT senior housing with supportive services.

openhouse and AF Evans have received entitlement from the City of San Francisco to construct an 88-unit building, all which will be designated as affordable, with an array of sensitive health and supportive services – including housekeeping, transportation, case management, and activities – on the site of the former University of California Extension campus in Hayes Valley.

The initiative is located one block from the LGBT community center and integrated into the larger plan by AF Evans Development to build market-rate and affordable rental housing units while preserving the historic buildings on the site.

Acquiring and developing land is a long, costly and difficult process for non-profit organizations like openhouse. In a city like San Francisco, where land is scarce and expensive, openhouse is privileged to have the opportunity to develop a site – literally in the heart of the City – to serve LGBT seniors and their supportive friends, all of which will be designated as affordable in an ideal location.

The Site

Overview of 55 Laguna and History of Site

The site at 55 Laguna is 5.86 acres in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco.  It is owned by the University of California and was previously the site of the UC Berkeley Extension campus.  The UC Berkeley Extension relocated in December 2003.  There are 5 existing buildings on the site: Woods Hall, Woods Hall Annex, Richardson Hall and Administration Wing, Middle Hall and the UCSF Dental Clinic.  There are 2 parking lots on the site, for private use.

Role of UC Berkeley and selection of AF Evans / openhouse

UC Berkeley issued an RFP (Request for Proposal) to develop the 55 Laguna Street site in October 2003.  The RFP was open to the public.  AF Evans and Mercy Housing California responded as one team.  In January 2004, AF Evans and Mercy were chosen to enter into an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement with UC to develop housing and other uses on the site.  UC Berkeley is leasing the site to AF Evans under a long term ground lease.  UC Berkeley will use the proceeds of the ground lease to cover the costs of the UC Berkeley Extension, which has moved to 3rd and Mission streets in San Francisco.  In the summer of 2005, openhouse replaced Mercy Housing and joined AF Evans as a developer on the site, which will develop its own separate building and services on the site.

Rental Housing

New Market-rate and Affordable Housing in the Heart of the City

AF Evans, together with openhouse, will develop much-needed market-rate and affordable rental housing at 55 Laguna, while preserving the historic buildings on the site.  Consider these important facts:

• 428 new residential units in total.

• 328 new multi-family units developed by AF Evans.

• 88 new affordable senior units developed by openhouse.

• More than 20% of the multi-family development will be affordable to households earning no more than 50% of the area median income.  (For a family of 4 persons, 50% of the area median income is approximately $45,000.)

• 55 Laguna is developing more affordable units than required by the law and offering them to lower income households.

• openhouse will develop 88 units, 100 percent of which will be affordable senior housing, and deliver services that are sensitive to the LGBT community and their friends.

• The density and size of the buildings all match the context of the surrounding area.

• The historic buildings on site will be preserved and renovated for residential units.

Importantly, this plan is financially viable, delivering these many community benefits as well as urgently needed rental housing with a sound fiscal footprint.

Being “Green”

Commitment to the Environment in the Design

AF Evans Development is committed to developing sustainable and environmentally sensitive communities.

The master plan for 55 Laguna dedicates a large percentage of the site to open space.  The development will have a new 20,000 square-foot park to replace the current asphalt parking lots called Waller Park. The park will be privately maintained – at no cost to the city – and open to the public.  There will also be an adjacent community garden on the site that will also be open to the public.

The development team is aspiring to achieve LEED Certification for the project.  All consultants on the architecture/engineering team have been selected with a focus on sustainable development.  The architecture team conducted a one-day “green charrette” in winter 2005 to evaluate the site and the individual buildings from a sustainable design perspective.

The master plan includes rainwater runoff catch basins from the west side of the site.  A seasonal pool and fountain is proposed at the upper part of Waller Park to catch the rain water and filter it back through the fountain into the ground.  All surfaces, where possible will be made of a permeable material, in order to decrease the amount of rain water that goes back into the City sewer system.  The architecture team is also researching using solar energy for lighting and potentially other energy needs on the site.

The interiors of the residential units are being designed with the highest standards of indoor air quality levels and the use of recycled and recyclable materials.  And each garage will have separate and safe bicycle parking areas, as well as secure bicycle parking on the new interior streets.