Affordable Housing Headed to Former Pavilion Site

Affordable Housing Headed to Former Pavilion Site
by Casey Mills‚ Sep. 13‚ 2005
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The Land Use Committee took a step towards rescuing more than 100 units of affordable housing out of the ashes of the failed Pavilion project yesterday, unanimously approving the reappropriation of $5.8 million in unused funds towards building two new low-income developments in the Tenderloin. The city originally earmarked the money for the Pavilion, a joint venture between the Hilton Hotel, the Glide Church, and Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC) that would have brought a conference space for conventioneers and affordable housing to four parcels around Mason and Ellis Streets. However, once the Hilton pulled out of the deal due to harsh economic times, the money sat stagnating in city coffers - until now.


Supervisor Chris Daly sponsored the legislation, which would move the money already budgeted by the city for the Pavilion project towards the creation of two separate buildings, one with 66 units of supportive housing, the other with 79 units of low-income family housing. TNDC will build the former, while Glide Economic Development Corporation (GEDC) will head up the latter, allowing both to at least partly see out their original plans for the Pavilion.

"Let me thank you for this," said Reverend Cecil Williams of the Glide Church. "We've been at this for a number of years, trying to make sure we continue the process of creating affordable housing for those who need it most."

Planning for the Pavilion began in the mid-'90s, during a time of economic prosperity for the city. Hilton Hotels wanted more space near their downtown location, and worked with neighborhood groups to develop a compromise in which a new convention center would be allowed, as long as significant amounts of new affordable housing were built alongside it. Glide and TNDC formed a partnership to acquire parcels for the housing sites. But the combination of the Hilton puling out after the dot-com bust and 9/11, both serious shocks to San Francisco's tourism industry, and the defeat of the last housing bond put the project in jeopardy.

Now, however, it appears the Tenderloin's low-income community may only be getting the half of the project they wanted.

"I'm excited that the part of the Pavilion project I was most excited about - the affordable housing units - are now in the pipeline," said Daly. "That's the brighter side of the project not working out in the end."

Neighborhood residents John and Michael Nulty, however, expressed some concerns about the proposed project. They said the current proposal did not receive adequate community input, pointed out that more units on the site could be built that currently proposed, and lamented the loss of the convention center in the new proposal.

"This was supposed to be an economic engine for the community," said John Nulty. "But now it's just affordable housing."

Mayor's Office of Housing's Joel Lipski, however, said the current proposal represented the best result residents could hope for in light of the Pavilion's failure.

"It's not exactly what we had hoped for," said Lipski. "We had grand plans for the area. But it's exciting to see this affordable housing project happen."

Should the full Board approve the reappropriation next week, it would cap a remarkable string of achievements for Daly, coming on the heels of both the Trinity Plaza, which will bring hundreds of affordable units to 8th and Market, and Rincon Hill, which will net the South of Market community significant funds to guard against displacement.

In addition to adding new affordable housing to their pipeline yesterday, TNDC also celebrated the hiring of a new Executive Director. Don Falk, former Housing Director for TNDC, will replace Kelly Cullen as the affordable development group's leader.