Mayor's housing office outlines HOPE SF pipeline, down-payment help and 'complete neighborhoods' grants

Representatives from the Mayor's Office of Housing briefed the Budget & Finance Committee on efforts to preserve and expand affordable housing, focusing on HOPE SF projects and financing strategies.

The office reviewed progress at Hunters View and Alice Griffith and said phase construction is underway for several public-housing revitalization sites. It said financing plans are in place for upcoming phases and that over the next 18 months it expects to fund rehabilitation for more than 3,500 units in the public housing portfolio.

Officials described a broader production goal tied to the mayor's 30,000-unit initiative (a mix of deeply affordable, affordable and market-rate units) and explained the office's strategy to leverage state and federal programs, low-income housing tax credits, and partnerships with private developers to maximize units per local dollar. They also discussed down-payment assistance programs (63 households helped through March 31) and eviction-prevention grants delivered through nonprofit partners.

The office introduced a "complete neighborhoods" grant program funded by the housing trust fund, offering awards from $10,000 to $200,000 for neighborhood improvement projects such as parks, gardens and pedestrian-safety work, to be proposed jointly by residential developers and neighborhood groups.

Supervisors asked for specific counts on how many of the Prop K and 10,000-unit goals are new construction versus rehabs; the office said it has projects and funding streams identified but that timing depends on outside financing and that further detail will be provided in follow-up reports.