Posted on: March 17, 2025
Source: San Francisco Chronicle; Author: J. K. Dineen
Sunnydale Hope SF is San Francisco’s newest housing development.
“Housing first” has become a mantra for a generation of urban policy makers: the idea that a place to live is the first step in dealing with the mental illness or substance abuse that is rampant among the unhoused and impoverished.
But at Mercy Housing’s Sunnydale project in San Francisco’s Visitacion Valley a more accurate slogan might be “community first.”
The developers — Mercy is partnering with Related California — are building plenty of housing, with two buildings opening later this month. The developers have completed 392 units, and construction is set to start on another 184 units this summer.
But beyond the two- and three- and four-bedroom units that are replacing some of the city’s most notoriously dilapidated and dangerous public housing, Mercy is more focused on a broader goal of creating an integrated neighborhood with retail, recreation, open space, health care, education and arts.
Sunnydale is one of four Hope SF projects — the others are at Hunters View, Alice Griffith and Potrero Hill — in which run-down World War II-era public housing developments are replaced with new affordable housing as well as market-rate units.
In October, the developers opened the $46 million “Hub,” a 30,000-square-foot community center that includes a teaching kitchen, study areas, library and a recording studio. The building has new facilities for the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco and Wu Yee Children’s Services. A full schedule of activities offers walking groups, cooking classes, ballet, hip-hop dancing and tai chi. An 11,500-square-foot gym, next to the Hub, will open in the summer.
Already, Sunnydale Avenue is starting to buzz with activity.
Across the street from the Hub the two new buildings — dubbed Amani and Nia — will offer something most San Francisco neighborhoods take for granted, but that the isolated Sunnydale housing development has long lacked: restaurants and retail.
So far three retail tenants have signed deals to move into ground-floor retail spaces.
At 1505 Sunnydale, Norma Quiñónez — who has received rave reviews for the handmade tortillas, tamales and breakfast burritos she serves at the Sunset District farmers market — has signed a lease to open her first brick-and-mortar restaurant, to be called Semilla.
Julia Katz of Mercy Housing talks with Norma Quiñónez in the future space for Quiñónez’s restaurant Semilla at Sunnydale Hope SF.
Quiñónez, who, in addition to her restaurant business, has a background in managing affordable housing, will oversee a food hall that will include her Mexican spot in addition to another restaurant.
The vibe will be “rustic” and the palette will be “red, bright orange, yellow and green — very Mexican,” Quiñónez said. There will be indoor and outdoor seating, and the tortilla-making machine will be visible from the sidewalk. Permitting and construction will take about six to nine months.
“We want people to see that everything is handmade from scratch,” she said. “I wanted to bring something fresh, organic and nutritious at an affordable price so everyone can have access.”
At 1537 Sunnydale, Sonya Brunswick, a pastor at Greater Life Church on Silver Avenue, will open a cafe and sandwich spot called Bold City Coffee. And Mauricha Robinson, an artist and educator specializing in printing bold graphics on T-shirts, bags and other apparel, will open a store and workshop at 1541 Sunnydale.
“We will be selling some Swamp swag,” joked Robinson, referring to the nickname locals use for the Sunnydale public housing development.
Julia Katz, who heads up commercial leasing for Mercy Housing, is currently in talks with a small grocery store operator and other food vendors about moving into other storefronts. Additional neighborhood-serving resources in the complex include a Wellness Center run by the San Francisco Department of Public Health and a Felton Institute early childhood education center with a private outdoor courtyard. There is a coworking space as well.
From left: The Rev. Sonya Brunswick of Greater Life Church, who is opening a coffee shop at Sunnydale Hope SF, talks with Julia Katz, commercial director for Mercy Housing, and Ashlei Hurst, vice president of community life at Mercy Housing California for Sunnydale Hope SF, during a visit at the resource center at Sunnydale Hope.
“Transit is not the greatest around here so we are focused on making sure that families have what they need within five minutes of where they live,” Katz said. “I think of it as our responsibility to bring these services if we are really committed to a healthy and sustainable neighborhood.”
The Sunnydale project calls for the replacement of 775 “legacy” apartments, along with about 200 other affordable units. The plan also calls for about 694 market-rate units, although it’s unlikely those will be built anytime soon given the cost of construction and lack of capital for new projects.
Ann Silverberg, CEO of Related California’s Northern California affordable housing division, said new phases of development “will provide Sunnydale residents with easy access to essential amenities to flourish, including food, child care and wellness services.”
“At its core, the Sunnydale development is about creating an environment where residents are reconnected with one another and to the community and city at large,” she said.
Existing Sunnydale residents have the option of moving into the new buildings, although they also may choose to receive a Section 8 voucher that can be used elsewhere.
While the “legacy” buildings at Sunnydale have had long-standing problems with mold, leaky pipes and rodents, the transition to living in five-story, multifamily structures is not easy for many residents, according to Ashlei Hurst, vice president of community life at Mercy Housing.
Residents were interviewed about what they liked about the old Sunnydale projects, and on the walls of a coworking space at Nia there are large color photographs of the old streetscape.
“We are about acknowledging there is grief and loss as people are leaving their homes, but there is also excitement,” Hurst said. “Those three emotions can exist at the same time, and how do we honor that and walk people through to their new homes? We want people to feel safe being who they are and have a good experience. Actually, this is hard.”
So far, 140 existing Sunnydale residents have filled out applications to move into the new buildings, although many are also exploring options with Section 8.
“Some of it’s been nervous excitement, some of it has been ‘I’m out of here,’” said Resident Services Manager Anna Marie Fai.
Rodney Lewis, who works for Mercy Housing at one of the nonprofit’s Mission Bay properties, has been living in Sunnydale for 16 years. He said he has picked out a two-bedroom unit on the fifth floor of Nia that he and his son will move into. He said he was surprised he got a unit because he had been his mother’s caretaker, before she passed away, and wasn’t on her lease.
“I thought ‘I’m not getting an apartment, my lottery number is not getting called. Out of the blue I got a call, ‘Hey Rodney you still want the apartment?’”
Lewis said the apartment is a little smaller than where he currently lives, but won’t have the issues with mold and leaks the older structures have.
“It’s going to be spick-and-span because I am a clean person,” he said. “I picked the fifth floor because I don’t want nobody walking over my head.”
John Fiamalue, who has lived in Sunnydale for 20 years, is still weighing his options. A truck driver who delivers seafood to restaurants and hotels, Fiamalue has seven kids and is considering taking a Section 8 voucher and looking for housing elsewhere. But he said he has been impressed with the development at Sunnydale.
“It’s a new city,” he said. “To have gone from where Sunnydale used to be compared to what it is now, it’s a big change. It’s a big upgrade for the community.”
He said gun violence has become a lot less prevalent the last two years, but he worries that it would continue to be an issue, even with all the investment and new development.
“I can’t even count how many shootings I witnessed ever since we moved here,” he said. “Sunnydale is a cemetery.”
On a recent weekday afternoon, entrepreneurs Quiñónez, Robinson and Brunswick were all touring their future retail spaces with Katz.
Brunswick, a Visitacion Valley native, started Bold City as a way to generate revenue for her church’s college scholarship program. She lived in the Geneva Towers as a kid, grew up in Visitacion Valley and said the Hub has changed the way young people regard their neighborhood.
Nitty Dupress, director of Bay Area Gators Dance & Cheer Program, works with program members as they train at the Hub at Sunnydale Hope SF.
“When (the Hub) opened, the kids were like, ‘Ours is the best in the city.’ It’s good to see the look on their faces when things promised for so many decades actually come to fruition.”
Bold City Coffee will have outdoor seating, and will serve sandwiches, pastries, and a variety of cold and warm drinks.
“There is this ginger brew I’m looking at bringing in,” she said. “I hope it does well or I might drink it all myself. I love ginger brew.”
While the commercial rents are well below market rate, Katz said she is being selective in finding retailers who are community-oriented and affordable.
At Brown Sugar Shoppe, Robinson will help customers pick transfers and do their own printing. She also runs T-shirt boot camps for kids.
“If the kids are not OK, I am not OK. I want to see myself reflected in them, in the community,” said Robinson, a mother of 5 who lives a few blocks away from her new business. “It’s important for the kids to see the steps it’s taking for me to get here as a black woman and business owner. And also for my own children — because they are going to be working summers.”
One of the primary goals of the Sunnydale Hope SF project is to make it feel integrated with the broader Visitacion Valley neighborhood, which has about 17,000 residents, Hurst said. Historically there has been a divide between the Sunnydale projects and the rest of the neighborhood, but recent gatherings for Lunar New Year and Black History Month have attracted homeowners from outside the development.
“Our job is to improve the quality of life of families in the entire neighborhood,” she said.
“We want our retailers to be a part of what happens at the community center, to be a part of what happens at the housing sites. We are trying to build this integrated ecosystem.”
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