Update: Iris Murillo, director of marketing at developer CCH, tells Curbed SF that neighborhood opposition was a factor in driving up the cost of the project but also says it was not the biggest problem the development faced.

CCH CEO Don Stump said in an emailed statement:

Extraordinary costs associated with current geotechnical and geological site conditions placed additional unanticipated costs to the overall development budget. In addition, the designation of the Forest Hill Christian Church as a historic resource and the increased costs associated with potentially rehabilitating a historic building further added costs to the project. Finally, although the project had many supporters from the community, the lack of neighborhood support makes it likely the project would be involved in a long EIR litigation that would have added considerable time and cost.

The Mayor’s Office of Housing [MOH] no longer plans to fund a proposed 150-unit affordable housing development for seniors in Forest Hill, saying that delays from neighborhood opposition have inflated the project’s price too far.

Christian Church Homes, a religious non-profit that develops affordable housing for seniors, announced in 2016 that it would partner with Forest Hill Christian Church to create new senior housing on a hillside lot at 250 Laguna Honda Boulevard.

But Forest Hill residents, including the Forest Hill Association, objected and cited concerns about the possibility of formerly homeless residents moving in to the neighborhood, as well as criticism of the proposed building’s size, locale, and necessary zoning exceptions.

“We’re talking five stories and a lot of traffic going in and out,” Joe Bravo, an attorney who lives in Forest Hill, told Curbed SF in 2016. “Why is nobody looking around and saying this city may perhaps have limits? That you can’t just keep building more?”

Other critics questioned whether the hillside was a sound place for a building of this size, and the San Francisco Planning Department warned that it would not support any plan that included the demolition of the (admittedly beautiful) circa-1962 church building on the site.

A post shared by memory conduit (@remycondit) on Feb 10, 2018 at 7:58am PST

Although the MOH previously resolved to push ahead with the build in spite of these obstacles, the San Francisco Examiner reported today that the city is now pulling out of the development, almost certainly spelling its doom.

Delays caused in part by neighborhood opposition had tacked on an extra $1.5 million onto the projected price tag, which prompted the decision to pull out.

Forest Hill Church pastor Susan Parsley confirmed that the deal was off and told Curbed SF there seems to be no other potential source of funding for the development.

“We are very sorry for all of the seniors whose lives would have been blessed,” Parsley says. “We will regroup and see what direction we feel the church is called to move.”

The Forest Hill Association declined to comment.