TNDC acquired the apartment building located at 249 Eddy Street in 2007 to preserve its Section 8 housing and low-income affordability. Photos by Luke Thomas.
By Luke Thomas
September 15, 2011
The Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation announced yesterday the rehabilitation of 82 units of low-income affordable housing at 165 Turk and 249 Eddy streets in the Tenderloin that would otherwise have been lost to market-rate forces.
“TNDC played a key role in this,” said TNDC Executive Director Don Falk. “We developed it, we manage it and we own it, but our ownership is really on paper only. It is the community’s asset. It belongs to the San Francisco community and TNDC is merely the steward of it and we’re really pleased to play that role.”
TNDC acquired the properties in 2007 when it was learned the buildings’ Section 8 contracts were set to expire. The previous owner planned to sell the buildings placing the units at risk of converting to market-rate housing and threatening their removal from San Francisco’s affordable housing stock.
Both buildings house low-income seniors in studio and one-bedroom apartments.
“The maximum eligible income is around $45 thousand,” Falk said. “Most people who live here make less than $1000 per month from social security and disability incomes.”
TNDC Executive Director Don Falk.
With primary financial assistance from San Francisco Redevelopment Agency (SFRA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), TNDC was able purchase the buildings and renew their Section 8 contracts with guarantees of low-income affordability for 99 years.
“The Redevelopment Agency was key to making it all happen,” Falk said.
It is San Francisco’s first project to be funded in part by American Recovery and Reinvestment funds. Additional funding and financing sources include the California Housing Finance Agency, California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, Citi Community Capital, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco and Silicon Valley Bank.
“As you know, the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency is kind of under fire right now from the State,” said San Francisco Redevelopment Agency Commission President Rick Swig. “We will survive. There’s no doubt we will survive, but it seems week after week, whether we’re saving housing in Hunters Point at Alice Griffith, or other housing projects that emerge – the redevelopment agency constantly proves its worth and need within the fabric of San Francisco.”
SFRA Commission President Rick Swig.
The rehabilitations included seismic retrofitting, electrical and plumbing upgrades, the construction of common room facilities, as well as space for on-site TNDC social workers and support services. A non-profit organization established in 1981, TNDC maintains a growing portfolio of 30 buildings serving 3,000 low-income tenants in the Tenderloin and surrounding neighborhoods.
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Rent is 30 percent of income said HUD Regional 9 Administrator Ophelia Basgal.
TNDC Executive Director Don Falk and SFRA staffer David Sobel.
Mayor's Office of Housing Director Olson Lee.
Units are spacious, clean and ADA compliant.
Luke Thomas
Luke Thomas is a former software developer and computer consultant who proudly hails from London, England. In 2001, Thomas took a yearlong sabbatical to travel and develop a photographic portfolio. Upon his return to the US, Thomas studied photojournalism to pursue a career in journalism. In 2004, Thomas worked for several neighborhood newspapers in San Francisco before accepting a partnership agreement with the SanFranciscoSentinel.com, a news website formerly covering local, state and national politics. In September 2006, Thomas launched FogCityJournal.com. The BBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, New York Times, Der Spiegel, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Magazine, 7x7, San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Bay Guardian and the San Francisco Weekly, among other publications and news outlets, have published his work. Thomas is a member of the Freelance Unit of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, TNG-CWA Local 39521 and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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