Community Renewal Good Stories - San Francisco

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Childcare and Chow Now Just Steps From Home

San Francisco, California, RC

Long underserved by retail and grocery outlets, residents in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood now can purchase fresh meat and produce close to home. The Harvest Urban Market & Childcare Center Project, at Eighth and Howard Streets, is a mixed-use development that includes affordable housing for 74 families and 88 individuals.

The project is the result of a collaborative effort between the Citizens Housing Corporation and the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation. The two groups secured a $4.6 million loan from the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency (SFRA) to purchase the land. They then sold the land to the SFRA. In order to retain air rights to the property, the two nonprofits took back loans on the housing parcels from the SFRA and obtained private funding from Citibank for development of commercial space. The city of San Francisco kicked in an additional $22 million in loans and bond financing.

The two groups also worked closely with the Mayor's office of housing to build the onsite childcare center and to identify local tenants for 6,000 square feet of commercial space. The 2,500-square-foot childcare facility serves both residents and community members. The commercial space accommodates after-school programs, vocational training, educational workshops, computer labs, and other services. The Harvest Urban Market is an 11,000- square-foot store that sits on the ground floor of the affordable housing development. It owes its existence to the efforts of Urban Solutions, a San Francisco-based neighborhood economic development organization; Mayor Gavin Newsom; and the Mayor's Office of Community Development.

The store's owner, Gilles Desaulniers, is excited about bringing healthy food choices to the neighborhood. In addition to fresh meat and produce, the market offers a variety of healthy, prepared meals that can be eaten onsite. Desaulniers predicts that his store will create at least 45 jobs, many of which will be filled by RC residents. With a single RC employment credit worth $1,500, he expects to claim thousands of dollars each year through 2009.

The Harvest Urban Market plans to take advantage of the RC Commercial Revitalization Deduction by depreciating its $1.2 million capital investment over 10 years instead of the traditional 39 years. The market also received $755,000 in bank financing and a $150,000 loan from the Mayor's office of community development.

For more information on the programs of the San Francisco RC, contact Natosha Y. Sapho at (415) 554-6425.