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Report: Mercy Housing’s Transbay 280B fully leased; commissioners press outreach, waiting-list and preference issues
Summary
Staff reported 280 Beale (Transbay Block 280B) fully leased to 69 affordable units, with 6 certificate-of-preference holders housed and more than 5,300 lottery applicants; commissioners questioned demographic balances, waiting-list practices and an omission of a San Francisco resident/worker preference in the marketing plan.
City housing staff presented an informational report March 1 on the lease-up of Mercy Housing's 100% affordable Transbay project at 280 Beale (Block 280B). Maria Benjamin of the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development said the building reached full lease-up by September after marketing began in March of the prior year and that Mercy housed 69 units (including a manager unit) following a lottery that drew more than 5,300 applicants.
Benjamin said six Certificate of Preference (COP) holders were housed, and staff connected some applicants to rent-subsidy programs to make units affordable. She reported 22 households appealed denials by the developer; nine appeals resulted in overturned denials and those households were ultimately housed. Benjamin said the household heads in the building range in age from 19 to 80 and that over half of the COP holders housed were African American, while the overall housed population included a high share of Asian households.
Commissioners pressed staff for more detail on waiting-list mechanics and demographic data. Jeff White, Housing Program Manager, acknowledged an oversight in the project's marketing plan: the San Francisco resident/worker (live-work) preference that staff expected to apply had not been included in the developer's marketing plan for this Transbay project. White said the redevelopment plan itself does not include a resident/worker preference and that the omission was a marketing-plan oversight; staff said they would verify whether some occupants listed as non-residents actually work in San Francisco and would apply the live-work preference when replenishing the building-specific waiting list.
Commissioners asked about the large pool of applicants relative to the small number of units and whether DAHLIA (a forthcoming centralized applicant-management system) will change outreach and waiting-list management. Benjamin said DAHLIA will allow applicants to update information centrally and will improve tracking of how applicants learned about opportunities. Commissioners and public commenters urged stronger outreach to neighborhood residents and more active case management to help COP holders qualify for units.
Staff committed to follow up with more granular waiting-list and demographic numbers and to standardize waiting-list practices across developments.
