Committee backs amended predevelopment loan to advance 137-unit 100% affordable project at 4840 Mission

The Budget and Finance Committee on Dec. 2019 voted to forward to the Board of Supervisors a resolution to amend a predevelopment loan for a 137-unit affordable housing project at 4840 Mission.

Supervisor Aasha Safaei described the site as the first opportunity in District 11 for 100% affordable housing and said earlier private-developer negotiations with a national grocer had stalled when the grocer sought free rent concessions. Safaei credited state housing law and staff work for allowing the project to move forward and said the plan expands the project footprint and adds 23 units to reach 137 total.

MOHCD staff said the original acquisition predevelopment loan was $6,000,000 (applied to a $12,000,000 purchase price in June 2017) and that BRIDGE received an additional acquisition loan from the San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund. MOHCD requested that the board amend the original $6,000,000 loan and provide an additional $12,500,000 to pay off the earlier acquisition loan and cover additional predevelopment activities, yielding a total city loan of $18,500,000. MOHCD added that the action had been recommended by the citywide affordable housing loan committee on Sept. 6.

MOHCD said if the amendment is approved, the nonprofit developer (identified in the presentation as BRIDGE or an affiliate) would enter a 57-year low-interest loan with repayment tied to residual receipts (annual payments to the extent there is available cash flow after operations). Staff also said the project includes approximately 10,000 square feet of commercial space that will be occupied by Mission Neighborhood Health Centers and that no residents would be permanently displaced by the rehabilitation process, though temporary relocation may be required to facilitate construction.

Severn Campbell of the Budget Analyst Office recommended approval with a technical amendment to correct the loan figure to $18,510,000 (BLA advised a technical correction from $18,600,000). The committee asked clarifying questions about why the earlier loan did not come to the Board (staff said the earlier loan was structured as a three-year predevelopment loan), took no public comment, and moved the item to the Board with a positive recommendation.

What happens next: MOHCD will return to the Board later for bond and long-term permanent loan approval and for ground-lease or ownership transfer as part of long-term affordability protections.