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Residential
San Francisco

SF developer to build townhomes instead of urban farm

Group I rejected $15M offer from neighborhood group for historic greenhouses in the Portola District

Group I president Joy Ou and a rendering of 770 Woolsey Street, San Francisco (Group I)
Group I president Joy Ou and a rendering of 770 Woolsey Street, San Francisco (Group I)

A dream of planting an urban farm in San Francisco has died on the vine after the property owner decided to build homes instead.

San Francisco-based Group I rejected a $15 million offer for 2.2 acres of abandoned greenhouses at 770 Woolsey Street in the Portola District in favor of building 62 townhomes, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Urban farm backers envisioned a cornucopia where neighbors could buy produce, children could learn about sustainable farming and the blue-collar neighbors cut off from much of the city by Interstate 280 and Highway 101 could gather.

Dave Gabriner, co-founder of the Greenhouse Project, said it raised $15 million to buy the site, the top price both sides had agreed on in an option deal two years ago that expires this month.

He said the $15 million was twice what Group I paid for the site in 2017. The money came from foundations, donors and the California Department of Natural Resources, which granted the group $6 million.

“It’s unbelievably disappointing that we couldn’t work out a deal,” Gabriner, a Berkeley firefighter, told the Chronicle.

Group I plans to move ahead with the long-stalled housing project as San Francisco confronts a state mandate to get 82,000 new homes built by 2031.

The developer is committed to building 62 approved townhouses with solar rooftops and ample green space, said Leigh Chang and Mark Shkolnikov, principals with Group I.

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Plans call for building 16,000 square feet of homes on the northeast corner of the property, where two replicas of the historic greenhouses would be built and the boiler house restored.

Chang said she’s optimistic the project can be financed when rising interest rates and inflation have stalled numerous housing projects. The project, which will have mostly three- and four-bedroom homes, will include 20 percent of units at below market rates.

“We are still excited about the residential project,” said Chang. “We have had conversations with several lenders.”

Before World War II, there were 19 blocks of greenhouses in Portola, mostly operated by Italian and Maltese immigrants. Over the last decade, the Greenhouse Project researched that history and the neighborhood has rallied around reclaiming the city’s “garden district.”

S.F. Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who represents the neighborhood, called the broken deal “heartbreaking.” She said proponents of the Greenhouse “were reasonable and upfront in negotiations” and surprised everyone by raising so much money

“This is not a NIMBY group in any way, shape or form,” Ronen said. “This was a once-in-a-lifetime special plot of land where there is a business plan in space to create a learning center and functioning urban farm that would be a demonstration project for the entire world.”

— Dana Bartholomew

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San FranciscoTownhomes