2010 AHF Readers' Choice Awards

San Francisco development earns top honor

By Donna Kimura

SAN FRANCISCO — Standing 12 stories, 10th and Mission Family Housing fills a tall order. First, it answers the affordable housing needs of 135 families, including 44 that were recently homeless. More than 3,000 people applied for one of the apartments.

The development, the first affordable housing high-rise in San Francisco in about 20 years, also makes the case that high-rises can be a suitable housing model for low-income families.

Developed by Mercy Housing California, 10th and Mission Family Housing is this year's overall winner in AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE's Readers' Choice Awards. It was also selected best urban project by readers.

Replacing a diner and a parking lot, the development is distinguished by a 5,000-square-foot youth center, where Catholic Charities Catholic Youth Organization provides after-school care and educational programs.

Mercy Housing also made sure to provide generous open space on the site and apartments to support larger families. Sixty of the apartments are three-bedroom units.

A linchpin in the revitalization of the neighborhood, the project also serves as a catalyst for other development in the area, says Sharon Christen, housing developer at Mercy. Other highdensity developments are planned for the neighborhood.

The $69 million project, which includes the youth center and commercial space, received more than $25 million from the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. The project uses 4 percent low-income housing tax credit equity from RBC Capital Markets' Tax Credit Equity Group and a tax-exempt bond-backed loan from Union Bank. The Department of Housing and Urban Development helped fund the youth center through its Economic Development Initiative.

“10th and Mission represented a great opportunity to work with Mercy Housing to provide deeply needed affordable housing in San Francisco,” says Michael Riechman, director and co-head of tax credit investments at RBC. “There is a great need of affordable in San Francisco, and the developer put together a very strong financial structure, including multiple layers of financing and a diverse tenant base.”