California Construction News staff writer
Sunnydale HOPE SF, two affordable housing projects in San Francisco celebrated “topping out” last week, signifying the completion of the buildings’ structural frames. Together, Sunnydale Blocks 3A and 3B will provide 170 apartments for low-income families, including two manager units and 127 units set aside for Sunnydale residents living in public housing.
Nibbi Brothers General Contractors started construction on both communities began in Spring 2023 and will be completed in early 2025.
“As someone who grew up in public housing, the promise we made to the Sunnydale community to build new housing without the displacement of residents is deeply personal,” said Mayor London Breed. “This complex is a great example of how we can deliver affordable housing paired with services and resources to improve the lives of our residents.”
Sunnydale Block 3A, to be called Amani, is located on the southwest corner of Sunnydale Avenue and Hahn Street and will serve as the most prominent building at the Sunnydale HOPE SF revitalized community’s gateway entrance.
In addition to the building’s 80 apartments, the ground floor includes approximately 20,000 square feet of retail and neighborhood services, which are planned for a grocery retail space, food hall, neighborhood resource center, health and wellness center operated by the San Francisco Department of Public Health, and an early childhood education center operated by the Felton Institute.
Next to Amani along Sunnydale Avenue, Block 3B, to be called Nia, will include 90 apartments as well as approximately 4,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a parking garage comprised of 134 parking spaces serving residents of both Amani and Nia. The retail frontage along Sunnydale Avenue will include seven shops, which will be subleased to a combination of experienced commercial tenants and new entrepreneurs from the community to spur economic development opportunities for the largely BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) community. A bike room will also be located in Nia for residents of both buildings.
The Sunnydale HOPE SF project includes the complete revitalization of the existing 50-acre Sunnydale-Velasco Housing Authority site, replacing 775 existing apartments with a mixed-use neighborhood of 1,700 high-quality, energy efficient homes. To date, 222 affordable units have been completed with 75% of them designated as public housing replacement units for Sunnydale residents. The transformation also includes the construction of The Hub, a new community center serving Sunnydale and Visitacion Valley residents, which will open in 2024.
“Sunnydale provides a great example of HCD’s funding programs working in tandem to help a very important, shovel-ready project break ground quickly—and to get the needed infrastructure improvements in place to support the community,” said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez. “These projects are not only putting a new face on public housing; they are connecting residents to services, resources, and transit and opening a world of opportunity.”
