Developer Plans Apartments in San Francisco’s Viz Valley

A property owner in San Francisco’s Visitacion Valley neighborhood is looking to turn a narrow parcel overlooking the freeway into several dozen apartments.

The San Francisco Planning Department received a new application for multifamily construction at 3275-3333 San Bruno Avenue, San Francisco YIMBY reported. Schaub Li Architects submitted the application on behalf of the unnamed property owner and is handling designs for the project.

The plans call for 45 units across three buildings overlooking U.S. Highway 101. Previous applications at the site sought to build 47 units. The development would consist of 26 one-bedroom units, 18 two-bedrooms and one three-bedroom. Of the 45 residences, five would be set aside for deed-restricted below-market-rate housing. Parking for 14 cars and 52 bicycles is also planned for the project.

Schaub Li’s plans seek to merge six vacant parcels into a single parcel spanning about a half-acre. Construction is projected to cost roughly $8.5 million, which does not include all development costs, according to S.F. YIMBY. A timeline for work has not been disclosed.

San Francisco is required by the state to plan for 82,069 new housing units across all income levels by 2031. In order to meet that lofty goal, some developers are looking to build on whatever land they can find. Earlier this month, Modern Art Construction owner Benny McGrath filed plans to demolish a single-family home at 821 Corbett Avenue in Twin Peaks and erect a nine-unit multifamily building.

More than 20,000 units in San Francisco have been approved for construction but remain in limbo due to rising construction costs, ongoing federal tariffs and a shortage of construction materials. Last year, only 1,453 new units were completed in the city — less than a third of the more than 5,000 new homes delivered in 2020. Last year, developers filed plans for just 2,541 new homes in total, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

— Chris Malone Méndez