In the nine years since they opened Ocean Ale House just west of City College in San Francisco’s Ingleside neighborhood, Daniel Silberman and Miles Escobedo have been hearing about the massive new development coming to the Balboa Reservoir.
They learned about the 1,100 housing units planned for the 17-acre lot, with 550 affordable apartments and 550 market-rate. They followed news of the 2017 developer selection competition, the 2020 development agreement with the city and the 2022 sale of the property, which had been owned by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, to master developer Bridge Housing for $11.4 million.
There has been a pandemic, a global shift in workplace habits, the 2017 death of Mayor Ed Lee, the six-year tenure of Mayor London Breed and the election of Mayor Daniel Lurie in November. Like other commercial strips in the city, Ocean Avenue has been pockmarked with new retail vacancies — losing Target, CVS and, most recently, Walgreens. Yet, despite all the change, one thing has remained constant: Construction has not started on the 17-acre surface parking lot just west of the City College campus.
“We have been hearing about this project for a decade, so it doesn’t feel real,” Escobedo said. “We have been let down so many times.” That is about to change. It may be of only a little consolation for Ocean Ale House — a warm, neighborhood-centric hangout known for live jazz and an excellent crab sandwich — but after years of delays, master developer Bridge Housing is set to start construction this spring on the project’s first 100% affordable complexes: the 128-unit, $80 million “Building E,” according to city officials. Six months later Bridge Housing is slated to begin work on “Building A,” a 159-unit affordable building. Build E secured a $62 million from the state, $26 million in infill infrastructure grant and $36 million in affordable housing and sustainable communities money
