Affordable Community Breaks Ground in San Francisco
The location is the newest addition to the Casa Adelante initiative, which seeks to build more affordable housing across the city.
A joint venture between the Mission Economic Development Agency and Chinatown Community Development Center has broken ground on Casa Adelante, a 168-unit affordable housing community located at 1515 S. Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco’s Mission District.
Apartments at Casa Adelante will be available for households making 25 to 80 percent of the Area Median Income. Additionally the community will have units designated for formerly homeless families as well as individuals with HIV.
According to Yardi Matrix data, Casa Adelante will offer 15 studio apartments, 32 one-bedroom units, 77 two-bedroom and 44 three-bedroom residences across its nine stories. David Baker Architects and Y.A. Studios designed the building. Upon completion, amenities at the property will include a community room, co-working space, computer lab and on-site laundry.
Site plans also call for the construction of an Early Childhood Education center, non-profit commercial space as well as other family-oriented amenities. The community will also be proximate to a major public transit corridor on Mission Street. A Grocery Outlet supermarket is also less than a mile away from the community.
READ ALSO: How Affordable Housing Can Transform Entire Communities
Casa Adelante Across San Francisco
The site at 1515 South was first purchased by Lennar in 2014, and was sold to the city in 2019 for $19 million. Intending to build more affordable housing in the area, the new owner would work on securing funding for the project and selecting developers. The Department of Housing and Community Development, part of California’s Multifamily Housing Program, awarded the project with $37.9 million in May of 2024.
It’s not the first project of its kind within the city, either. Casa Adelante is the name of a series of affordable housing developments located in San Francisco’s Mission District.
Another Casa Adelante project is taking shape at the nearby 1296 Shotwell St. This location, which opened in 2020, has 96 affordable housing units available for seniors.
In 2023, MEDA opened another Case Adelante location at 2828 16th St. Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects lead the design for the project, aiming for LEED Gold rating with the inclusion of rooftop photovoltaic and solar hot water arrays.
Affordable housing development in San Francisco, one of the nation’s most expensive cities, is starting to ramp up. According to Yardi Matrix’s latest report on the city, more than half of the apartments in the city’s 13,620-unit pipeline are in fully affordable projects.
As the city is making funds available for projects like Casa Adelante, more units are becoming available for residents. In February, MidPen housing broke ground on Oak Gardens, a 62-unit affordable project intended for veterans in Menlo Park.
