SF’s Plaza East housing project targeted for redevelopment

A trio of developers aims to quadruple the size of Plaza East, a rundown public housing complex in San Francisco’s Western Addition.

Strada Investment Group, based in San Francisco, McCormack Baron Salazar of St. Louis and Without Walls have filed plans to tear down the Plaza’s 193 apartments and rebuild it with 755 new units at 1300 Buchanan Street, SF Yimby reported.

The plan to redevelop the 21-year-old public housing bordered by Laguna, Turk, Buchanan and Earl Gage Jr. streets next to Jefferson Square Park has received pushback from federal housing officials, Supervisor Dean Preston and Plaza residents.

A renamed New Plaza East, designed by Mithun of Seattle and Multistudio of Kansas City, would feature five new buildings of 958,000 square feet on the 3.6-acre property, an area where Mayor London Breed grew up.

Four buildings of either seven or eight stories would include 455 units. A fifth 20-story building at the northwest corner of Turk and Laguna streets would contain 270 market-rate apartments and 30 public housing replacement units.

Along with replacement housing, New Plaza East will feature 292 more affordable units than the current 193-unit complex, for a total of 485 affordable apartments.

The new apartments would include 160 studios, 236 one-bedroom, 240 two-bedroom, 98 three-bedroom and 19 four-bedroom apartments.

If approved, New Plaza East would contain 42,000 square feet for rooftop terraces and other amenities, as well as parking for 185 cars and 620 bicycles.

McCormack Baron Salazar built the complex in 2001 for $43.2 million, including $20.2 million in federal funds, according to San Francisco Public Press. It also manages the property.

Since then, its residents have complained about substandard conditions, including leaking pipes, rotting floors, electrical fires and pests.

A group of 18 tenants recently sued the developer and its affiliated management company, McCormack Baron Management, and property owner Plaza East Associates, alleging dangerous conditions that posed “severe health and safety hazards,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Preston accused the developers and the San Francisco Housing Authority, which owns the land, of “trying to force residents to accept hundreds of units of market rate housing on this public housing site.”

The Rev. Arnold Townsend, head of the Without Walls development firm, argues in favor of the inclusion of market-rate units, saying they will ensure that the property is well-maintained in a way that is rarely granted for public housing.

— Dana Bartholomew

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