SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee Monday unveiled a $500 million dollar plan intended to accelerate the funding and construction of stalled affordable housing projects in the city.
Under the proposal, the city would use the money to build 3,000 affordable housing units in the Transbay, Mission Bay, and Hunters Point Shipyard/Candlestick Point areas over the next 15 years. It would authorize the San Francisco Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure to issue bonds to finance the construction of those projects.
The plan is made possible by a provision in Gov. Jerry Brown’s newly revised budget proposal released last week, said the mayor’s office. Lee’s proposal seeks to revive projects that were stalled when the state dissolved city redevelopment agencies in 2012. Since the dissolution of those agencies San Francisco has lacked the authority to issue bonds against property tax reviews available in its Redevelopment Property Tax Trust Fund, according to the mayor’s office.
In a statement Mayor Lee said he is grateful to Gov. Brown for his efforts to address the city’s need for more affordable housing. “If signed into law, this will provide the City with a powerful tool to build more affordable housing faster. San Francisco continues to face an affordability crisis, and I am committed to using every tool at my disposal to address the need for more housing, and that includes leveraging local, state, and federal resources,” said the mayor.
Lee’s plan is continent on a trailer bill that is a part of the governor’s proposed $115.3 billion budget for the next fiscal year. “I look forward to working with Governor Brown and others in Sacramento to push for the passage of this important development tool to accelerate housing construction,” said Mayor Lee.
The funding authorized by the state bill could be spent only for the completion of housing in those areas where existing redevelopment obligations dedicate land for affordable housing.
The mayor said the $500 million housing plan is separate and in addition to the $250 million affordable housing bond that he introduced for the November ballot last week.