Chinatown’s Affordable Housing Stock

Chinatown Community Development Center

San Francisco’s Chinatown San Francisco’s Chinatown Chinatown – Our Assets and Liabilities

San Francisco’s Chinatown San Francisco’s Chinatown Demographics

•15,000 - 18,000 Residents

•61,000 per square mile

•80% residents are Low-Income

•Seniors and working families

•70% walk or bus to work

•80% do not own cars

Cultural Capital

Community Serving Retail and Jobs

Donaldina Cameron HouseYouth and Family Support Services

Social Service Hub

Core Chinatown – SRO’s

Core Chinatown – Ping Yuen

Ping Yuen Public Housing – Country’s First Rent Strike

2000 都板街 1355號住客受到艾利斯逼遷 . Tenants at 1355 Grant Avenue faced Ellis Act eviction.

“Outer” Chinatown – Small Sites

De Facto Affordable Housing Stock

•Rent Controlled

•Long Term Renters

•Long Term Owners

•But . . . .

Aging / Dilapidating Housing Stock

•Deteriorating habitability conditions

•Overcrowding

•Not disability accessible

•BUT safe “bones” due to city seismic safety program

Displacement via Gentrification

•SF zip code at highest risk of gentrification

•Displacement of 1,000 low-income tenant households over past 10 years

•Driven by conversion of rental units into condos/TIC’s

San Francisco’s Chinatown San Francisco’s Chinatown “Sustainable Communities” . . . .

“We are at the end of a 60 year cycle in land use planning. White flight is at an end. Reverse white flight back into urban areas has already begun . . . . .”

-- Carl Anthony, Professor and Land Use Activist

Looking toward the FutureChinatown infrastructure inadequate for growth . . . .

What do we do now?

Rehab vs. New Construction

Chinatown Plan - 1986

•Anti-Demolition

•4 Story Height Limit

•Restrictive Floor Area Ratio

•Should we rezone??

Upzoning and Rebuilding Means

• Demolition– Which means displacement

• Which means relocation– Which means nobody moves back . . . .

• Carbon Footprint– SIGNIFICANT

Upzoning and Rebuilding Means

• Mixed Income and Mixed Use Projects

• Replace affordable 1 for 1 and add market rate

• Market Rate will Subsidize “Affordable”

• Increased Density . . . .

Upzoning and Rebuilding Means

• Higher Construction Costs

• Inclusionary at 120% AMI

• Fundamental shift in neighborhood composition

Development Type Per Unit/2 Bdrm Cost in SF

Acquisition/Rehab $260,000 - $300,000

Low-rise / wood frame (pre-acquisition)

$310,000 - $350,000

Mid-rise / High Rise (pre-acquisition)

$350,000 - $430,000

Rehab and Preserve

Rehab and preserve

•Ensures retention of “community assets”

•People focused

•Sustainable / lower carbon footprint

•No mismatch between density and infrastructure

Acquisition / Rehab

•Target small sites

•Land banking

•Scattered site

•Resident participation in management

•Policy Advocacy

•Partnerships with tenant advocates

Technical Assistance Programs

•Rehab TA Program

•Property and asset management TA programs

•Family association and property owner outreach program

•Policy Advocacy

What haven’t we covered

• What about new construction projects?

• What to do about Ping Yuen?

Contact Information

Malcolm YeungPublic Policy ManagerChinatown Community Development Center1525 Grant AvenueSan Francisco, California 94133

(v) 415.984.2749(e) myeung@chinatowncdc.orghttp://www.chinatowncdc.org