Revised 5th and Mission plan adds affordable housing, open space

Public space included in the proposed 5M project. Public space included in the proposed 5M project. Photo: Courtesy Of Forest City Photo: Courtesy Of Forest City Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Revised 5th and Mission plan adds affordable housing, open space 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

One of the largest and most anticipated mixed-use development projects San Francisco has seen in the past few years is being overhauled to make it more politically palatable.

Developers seeking to build the project on four acres next to the Chronicle building at Fifth and Mission streets are beefing up their affordable housing and open space commitments in an effort to win approval in a political environment that is becoming increasingly demanding around issues of affordable housing.

Under the new plan, developer Forest City in partnership with the Hearst Corp., which owns The Chronicle, have agreed to make 33 percent of the project affordable.

They plan to build an 83-unit, low-income senior housing project on an 8,800-square-foot empty lot at 967 Mission St., between Fifth and Sixth streets, and contribute $18 million toward a 103-unit affordable family complex planned for Taylor and Eddy streets. In addition, 20 percent of a 288-unit apartment building on the development site would be set aside for families making 50 percent of area median income, about $50,000 for a family of four.

Linking downtown, SoMa

Mayor Ed Lee said the project, known as 5M, is the first private development to meet the goals of 2014’s Proposition K, which called for 33 percent of housing produced in the city to be affordable to low- and moderate-income families.

“We made it clear to Forest City from the start that we wanted them to maximize the affordable-housing component of the 5M project,” Lee said Monday.

If approved, the project would fill in the gap between the heavy development South of Market to the east of Third Street and the newly burgeoning Mid-Market area, where the influx of tech companies has unleashed a flood of investment into luxury housing, hotels and new retail. The developers hope to win final approvals in November and start construction about a year after that.

Audrey Tendell, development director for Forest City, said that the goal is “to create a vibrant place that connects downtown and SoMa for people of all ages and backgrounds.”

“We would like 5M to be a place that reflects the diversity of the neighborhoods it connects to, which already includes a mix of uses important to the people who live and work here, as well as the students who go to school here,” she said.

More open space

The new plan increases ground-level open space from 12,000 square feet to 26,000 square feet. That was made possible by the elimination of a 226,000-square-foot office building. The plan now calls for one 614,000-square-foot office building consisting of two towers at Fifth and Howard streets, a 400-unit, 470-foot tall condo tower at Fifth and Minna streets, and the rental apartment building on Mission Street between Fifth and Sixth streets.

The developers are also seeking to appease historic preservationists by agreeing to save a 9,500-square-foot structure from 1923 known as the Camelline Building on Natoma Street. In addition, the 1924 Dempster Printing Building on Minna Street and the Chronicle building at 901 Mission St. would remain. The Chronicle building’s rooftop would become open space accessible to the public.

Supervisor Jane Kim, who represents the area, said she has not yet taken a position on the plan but called the affordable-housing promise “an extraordinary commitment.”

The developer “has committed to building 100 percent of the affordable housing at deeply subsidized income levels for working-class families and seniors on fixed incomes,” Kim said. “These are the types of housing residents in that neighborhood are overwhelmingly requesting, so they can stay in San Francisco.”

Adding senior housing

The rental building would have 58 units that would be available to families making less than $50,000 for a family of four. The senior housing building would be constructed at 967 Mission St., currently a parking lot.

“There is not a great deal of senior housing being built in the South of Market, but if you look at the numbers, there is certainly a need for it,” Tendell said.

In addition, Forest City has committed $1.5 million for workforce development, $2.5 million for youth services and $3 million for pedestrian improvements in surrounding areas. The project would generate about $68 million in fees for transit, open space, jobs, affordable housing and the arts.

Don Falk, the executive director of the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp., which is building the project at Taylor and Eddy, said the $18 million would fund 71 units of the 103-unit development.

John Eberling, who runs the South of Market affordable housing group TODCO, said Forest City “is on the right track.”

“This will be really good neighborhood open space, and the off-site affordable housing is the right thing to do,” Eberling said.“We still need to look at all the details to make sure the package is right.”

But not everyone is buying the new plan. Resident Jane Weil, who lives in the 22-story SoMa Grand building at Seventh and Mission streets, said the proposed condo tower is much too tall. She objected to the “spot zoning” Forest City is seeking. She said the tallest buildings should be 180 feet.

“It’s not about NIMBYism — I live in a high-rise,” she said. “But they want to build one that is double the height of our building. They are putting a Rincon Hill-like cluster of four towers in the middle of central SoMa.”

Concerns over displacement

Angelica Cabande, executive director of the South of Market Community Action Network, said that while the proposed affordable housing may be attractive, she is worried about the impact the entire development would have on residents. She also thinks that all the affordable housing should be built South of Market.

“Taylor and Eddy is not in the South of Market, and the majority of the impact of this project is in the South of Market,” she said. “We are concerned with displacement and gentrification that is already happening and will occur more.”

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

E-mail: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen