On Saturday, October 31, 2020, the San Francisco Chronicle highlighted Freedom West’s recent redevelopment plan approval. Below is an excerpt and a link to read the full article.
2,515-unit housing proposal in S.F.’s Fillmore is one of city’s largest ever
For decades, residents of the Freedom West housing cooperative in San Francisco’s Fillmore District have watched the new city rise up around them.
The torch atop City Hall’s dome, visible from the upper floors of the dilapidated housing project, was restored with 24-karat gold leaf. The elevated freeway came down above Octavia Boulevard, and up sprang $2 million condos, yoga studios, French bistros and stores selling $400 shoes. A few blocks south, tech companies like Twitter, Dolby and Square moved in.
Yet through it all, the poorly constructed beige and brown apartments and townhomes that make up the 1973 vintage 382-home Freedom West — which straddles both sides of McAllister Street between Gough and Laguna streets — have sunk into further disrepair. Pipes leaked. Tree roots pushed up through bathroom floors. Boilers were frequently on the fritz. The three-story walk-up buildings became hazardous for elderly residents.
But now the co-op residents have approved a redevelopment plan that would bring the housing development into the 21st century and dwarf anything built in San Francisco’s central neighborhoods in terms of size and investment.
This week co-op shareholders voted to advance a plan from developer MacFarlane Partners and Avanath Capital Management to redevelop the four-block complex built in the wake of the city’s destructive “urban renewal” effort. The $2 billion proposal, which will require city approvals, would replace the existing housing and add 133 affordable units and up to 2,000 market-rate units.
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