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Buildings
San Francisco Housing Project to Draw Middle Class Residents
(california.construction.com,
October 2006 issue)
By Robert
Carlsen
Developer AF Evans is making it easier
for middle-income San Franciscans - definitely a vanishing
breed -- to buy housing with its innovative 888 Seventh Street
project in the Mission Bay district of the city.
Bay Area officials and the Oakland-based
developer put together the $75 million Bay Area Workforce
Equity Fund in June that allows fund-financed housing to be
sold at approximately 15 percent below market prices. The
fund is investing $1.2 million in the 224-unit, mixed-use
888 Seventh Street project, which will include 170 Below Market
Rate units and 54 Workforce units in studio, one-, two- and
three-bedroom configurations.
The project is 100 percent Area Median
Income-based, which are housing purchase prices that are determined
by San Francisco's Mayor's Office of Housing.
According to AF Evans, banks and financial
institutions invest in the fund and then the fund invests
in the projects to lower equity cost of the overall project
financing. No public funds are used.
"One of the main advantages of
this type of housing is that it is more attractive to buyers,
which makes it more attractive to the investors," said
Jaqui Braver, assistant project manager for AF Evans.
888 Seventh Street is a $50 million
project at the corner of Seventh and King streets across from
the Showcase Square design warehouse complex. It also connects
at DeHaro and Berry streets, with an angled corner hitting
at DeHaro and King.
"This is not a square site,"
acknowledged Jim Glueck, project superintendent for the general
contractor, James E. Roberts-Obayashi Corp. of Danville. The
tightness of the layout, coupled with a "tricky design,"
was the major challenge, he added, not counting last winter's
heavy rains that caused some severe flooding while crews were
driving piles.
The project, designed by David Baker
& Partners of San Francisco, features two stories of above-ground
parking and four stories of townhouses and flats in multiple
buildings with plazas in between. As it sits on a segment
of the Mission Creek greenbelt and bikeway, David Baker added
a half-acre of public open space to the site.
"There's about two acres of parking,
which could have been a detriment to the urban fabric, but
the building hides that almost completely by having two-story
townhouses or retail space wrapping about 90 percent of the
perimeter of the garage," said lead architect Daniel
Simons. "This not only hides the parking, but also provides
pedestrian activity for the surrounding streets."
The retail component will be 7,200 sq.
ft., including an anchor café at the angled corner.
Above the oval-shaped café will be two two-story townhouses,
which Braver and Simons said would be very much sought after.
Simons added that the housing is organized
around two large courtyards, which, although they are on the
third floor, have access directly to King Street and the bike
path/park by large, exterior ornamental stairs.
"It was a challenging site because
of its proximity to the freeway (Highway 101), a waste transfer
station, and railroad tracks," said Simons. "We
had to be very careful with acoustic isolation."
"The location is great," said
Braver. "The Mission Bay campus and all its amenities
is nearby, the Showcase Square design area. It has an edgy,
industrial feel to it."
Glueck said the site was once the home
of two warehouses. During the demolition and clearing, archeologists
made their civically required visit but found only a few old
bottles and railroad ties. "We were lucky. King Street
has produced some valuable items from settlers and businesses
dating from the 1850s," he said.
Completion is scheduled for next fall.
Glueck said he hopes to have the concrete work finished this
month and the project totally covered by January.
The Project Team:
Owner/developer:
AF Evans Development
General Contractor: James
E. Roberts-Obayashi Corp.
Architect: David Baker
& Partners
Major subcontractors: Anning-Johnson
Co., Broadway Mechanical, Galletti and Sons, and MDE North
Electric.
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