San Francisco celebrated the grand opening last week of Mission Walk, the first below-market-rate, for-sale homes in the new Mission Bay neighborhood.

Photo: BRIDGE Housing

Mission Walk is a development by Berry Street LLC (an affiliate of BRIDGE Housing Corp.) and the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. Mission Walk provides 131 for-sale condominiums and townhomes (25 one bedrooms, 82 two bedrooms and 24 three bedrooms) in two five-story buildings; each building features an on-grade parking garage and landscaped courtyard. The development was designed to achieve LEED certification.

Financing for Mission Walk was provided by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency; Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.; the State of California Housing and Community Development BEGIN Program; and BRIDGE Housing Corp. Mortgage Assistance Program.

The architect is Leddy Maytum Stacy, the associate architect is FullCircle Design Group and the general contractor is James E. Roberts-Obayashi Corp.

The homes are priced to be affordable to households that earn 80% to 100% of the 2008 area median income (up to $94,300 for a family of four) and are part of the SFRA’s Limited Equity Program. Sales prices range from $159,000 to $303,000, in a neighborhood where market-rate condos are priced from $500,000 and up.

“With the opening of Mission Walk, the Redevelopment Agency's affordable housing work in the Mission Bay North Redevelopment Project Area has been successfully completed,” says SFRA Executive Director Fred Blackwell. “The agency will next turn its affordable housing efforts to Mission Bay South. We are very excited to offer 131 families the opportunity to own their home in this affordable, high quality community with immediate access to Mission Bay’s family-friendly park and recreational amenities.”

Mission Walk is the fourth SFRA-assisted affordable housing development and the first SFRA-assisted affordable ownership development in Mission Bay. The SFRA uses a limited-equity homeownership program that balances the goals of long-term affordability and increased homeowner equity.

“For-sale homes such as Mission Walk are an important part of the array of affordable housing choices,” says Lydia Tan, interim president and CEO of BRIDGE Housing. “We’re glad to present this ownership opportunity to working families in San Francisco, so they can afford to stay in the city and live closer to their jobs and transit.”

According to the architects, to create a pedestrian-friendly public realm, two-story townhomes with landscaped terraces wrap around the perimeter at street level, a strategy that also conceals the structured parking from the view. Lobby entries are placed directly off Berry Street and the mid-block walkway. A 5-ft lower floor setback enhances privacy and provides opportunities for landscaping.

Stucco serves as the primary exterior material, contrasted with painted fiber-cement siding at building corners and painted cement board panels between rowhouse forms and elsewhere.

LEED elements include low-flow plumbing fixtures and fittings, drought tolerant landscaping and water-efficient irrigation. The buildings have roof-top PV units as well.

Grand opening speakers include Olson Lee, deputy executive director, housing, San Francisco Redevelopment Agency; Jeff Bennett, vice president, Wells Fargo Bank; BRIDGE Housing Interim President and CEO Lydia Tan; and Kim Nash, project manager, BRIDGE Housing.