This downtown S.F. neighborhood is having a moment, with new shops and housing on the way

It has been a hell of a month for the East Cut, the downtown San Francisco neighborhood that has sprung up over the past dozen years around the Transbay transit center.

First, on May 8, the city announced five Vacant to Vibrant pop-ups would be moving into the neighborhood, including an Italian deli, ice cream parlor and boba shop. Then, on May 20, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi breezed into town to celebrate the commitment of $3.4 billion in federal funding that will help pay for the downtown rail extension, which would bring Caltrain and 10 other transit systems into downtown.

Finally, on Wednesday, Mayor London Breed showed up at a construction site on a portion of the former temporary transit center to preside over a groundbreaking ceremony for two buildings providing 355 units of affordable housing that will rise on the block bordered by Folsom, Beale and Main streets.

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The two buildings celebrated Wednesday represent the first to break ground in the neighborhood since the pandemic. One of the buildings, being developed by Chinatown Community Development Center, will feature 151 affordable rental units serving senior households earning 15% to 50% of the area median income, which is $15,750 to $52,000 for a single person.

The other, developed by Mercy Housing, will include 184 family apartments targeting households earning 40% to 80% of area median income, which translates to $60,000 to $120,000 for a family of four. Together, the two buildings will have 70 units for households that have experienced homelessness.

Andrew Robinson, who leads the East Cut Community Benefit District, said the projects would not only bring upward of 800 and 900 residents to the area, but that affordable buildings tend to fill up faster than market-rate apartments and offer better rents for retail spaces.

He pointed to the pop-up open space immediately north of the construction site, where three pickleball courts — soon to expand to five — draw big weekend crowds, as do movie nights, food trucks and basketball. While the pop-up space is slated to become a park, the district is looking to redesign it around the current uses.

“I believe this neighborhood is at the forefront of what the renewal of downtown will look like,” Robinson said. “Civic pop-up behind you is a community hub for us. It is creating a social infrastructure we need to create neighborhood bonds.”

While 40 businesses in the neighborhood closed during the pandemic, 47 have opened since the recovery started in 2022, he said.

Architect Owen Kennerly, who is designing one of the two new buildings, said Mercy Housing’s 17-story tower will have three “social hubs” providing common spaces for the families living there. Two double-height spaces — one at street level and one at the sixth and seventh floors — will have shared laundry, meeting rooms, a child care center, a play area and barbecue space. A roof deck will have more open spaces.

“It’s got great amenities, and you need that in affordable buildings,” Kennerly said. “Affordable buildings have twice the occupancy level of market-rate buildings.”

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Read the full article, This downtown S.F. neighborhood is having a moment, published by the San Francisco Chronicle on May 29, 2024