Supervisors advance 1629 Market Street development agreement that includes 100 supportive housing units

Developer Stroud/Strata Brady LLC and city staff told the Land Use & Transportation Committee on Nov. 29 that a redevelopment plan for 1629 Market Street will include a 100% supportive housing building, expanded inclusionary units and a network of privately owned, publicly accessible open spaces.

Michael Cohen, a principal with Stroud Investment Group, told the committee the project will be built on land owned by the Local 38 Plumbers and Pipefitters pension trust and developed under a 99‑year lease. He said the plan calls for multiple buildings no taller than the Market Octavia Plan’s 85‑foot limit, roughly 584 residential units, about 13,000 square feet of retail and approximately 23,400 square feet of publicly accessible open space. "To our knowledge, this is the first time ever in San Francisco that supportive homeless housing has been included as part of a private project," Cohen said, and he emphasized the developer’s commitment to preserve the Civic Center Hotel footprint and retail frontage.

City staff described the development agreement’s binding community benefits. Anne Topier of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development summarized key terms: a 15‑year vested development right in exchange for delivery of a Colton Street parcel dedicated to a 100‑unit supportive housing building for formerly homeless tenants; a requirement that the supportive building be completed and ready for occupancy before permits are issued to renovate the Civic Center Hotel into market‑rate housing; and a privately funded, on‑site supportive housing partnership with Community Housing Partnership. Topier said the developer will fund 100% of the gap financing for the supportive building and the city will not be required to contribute construction funding for that parcel.

The project also includes a new, roughly 30,000‑square‑foot union hall for Local 38, donated land for the supportive building, and an open‑space network that the presentation identified as "Joseph P. Mazzola Gardens" (about 13,700 square feet for the ground‑level park). Planning staff told the committee that the Planning Commission had recommended approval of the general plan amendment, planning‑code text amendments and a zoning map amendment to create the 1629 Market Street Special Use District and to realign parcel boundaries and height limits consistent with the proposal.

Local 38 and near‑neighbor community members spoke in support. A Local 38 representative described the package as delivering union jobs and long‑term neighborhood benefits. James Tracy, speaking for Community Housing Partnership’s CEO, said the developer demonstrated a commitment to keeping long‑term Hotel residents in the neighborhood by moving them into the new supportive building.

Committee action: after public comment and brief committee discussion the members took a single recommendation vote on items 1–3 and agreed, without objection, to forward the general plan amendment, planning code and zoning map changes and the development agreement to the full Board with the committee’s recommendation.

What happens next: the measures will go to the full Board of Supervisors for final consideration. The development agreement ties delivery of the supportive housing parcel to the renovation schedule for the Civic Center Hotel; the Board’s review will examine the DA’s timing and monitoring provisions and any recommended amendments.