Challenge
In San Francisco, most residents couldn’t afford to pay market-rate rent if they lost their existing apartment. This means that the City is at constant risk of losing its essential workers — from grocery store clerks to teachers to first responders — whether to displacement or because they simply move away. The City’s heart and soul erode every time this happens. Historically, financing a building meant for occupancy by “middle-income” households has been nearly impossible, since these residents’ incomes are too high to qualify for state and federal subsidies but too low to cover the high costs of construction. The shortage of affordable housing for our critical workforce continues to grow.
Solution
HAF provides flexible funding solutions to address the “missing middle” housing that neither the market nor traditional affordable housing resources provide. And by building flexibility into our acquisition and rehabilitation loan terms, these relatively higher rents can help lower the rents of other apartments in the same development, which enables people in need of greater assistance, like seniors on fixed incomes, to remain affordably housed.
Impact
We are using capital supplied by philanthropists to address financing gaps for workforce and middle income housing, a market segment that has historically received less financial support from City and State sources. With the power of funds from philanthropists Jeremy Liew and Ranee Lan, HAF made a loan to Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation to move forward a SoMa district project that will create 203 new affordable homes. Over 50% of these homes will be reserved for middle-income and workforce households.
