San Francisco’s Mission District has faced some difficulties recently, from a five-alarm fire that displaced many SRO residents to dissidence over the proposed “Monster in the Mission” development. But last week, the neighborhood got some good news — thanks to a recent land purchase, 140 units of affordable housing will be built on 1990 Folsom Street.
The purchase was made by Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA), which has been helping San Francisco’s low- to moderate-income residents since 1973. Over the decades the organization has provided aid for thousands of city residents, and it now has an impressive array of civil activists on its board of directors. Notable members include Matthew Haney, president of San Francisco’s Unified School District, and Jabari Herbert, former executive director at the Alliance for West Oakland Development.
Currently, 1990 Folsom Street is home to an abandoned factory previously used by Earthgrains Baking Company. MEDA got the funds to acquire the land through Proposition A, a housing bill approved in November 2015 that allocated $310 million to the construction of affordable housing in San Francisco. Of that amount, $50 million was awarded to the Mission District.
According to MissionLocal, Jean Chadbourne of arts collective The Growlery was involved in the purchase and said in a since-deleted Facebook post that it will “involve 140 units of below-market-rate housing, with a fifth of the units reserved for formerly homeless families.” She also said that 5,000 square feet will be used for child services and arts space.
