Affordable Housing Headed to Former Pavilion Site
Looks like Chris Daly is going to let some housing get built after all… And he’s going to try to take full credit for it, too…
From BeyondChron today, “The Land Use Committee took a step towards rescuing more than 100 units of affordable housing out of the ashes of the failed Pavilion project yesterday, unanimously approving the reappropriation of $5.8 million in unused funds towards building two new low-income developments in the Tenderloin. The city originally earmarked the money for the Pavilion, a joint venture between the Hilton Hotel, the Glide Church, and Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC) that would have brought a conference space for conventioneers and affordable housing to four parcels around Mason and Ellis Streets. However, once the Hilton pulled out of the deal due to harsh economic times, the money sat stagnating in city coffers – until now.”
“Planning for the Pavilion began in the mid-‘90s, during a time of economic prosperity for the city. Hilton Hotels wanted more space near their downtown location, and worked with neighborhood groups to develop a compromise in which a new convention center would be allowed, as long as significant amounts of new affordable housing were built alongside it. Glide and TNDC formed a partnership to acquire parcels for the housing sites. But the combination of the Hilton puling out after the dot-com bust and 9/11, both serious shocks to San Francisco’s tourism industry, and the defeat of the last housing bond put the project in jeopardy.”
