Amani and Nia Bring Housing, Health, and Opportunity to San Francisco

For nearly two decades, Mercy Housing California and Related California have been transforming the Sunnydale-Velasco public housing community in San Francisco. Once completed, the multi-phase Sunnydale HOPE SF revitalization effort is expected to transform the city’s largest public housing site into a mixed-income neighborhood with 1,700 new affordable and market-rate homes, new infrastructure, and community-serving amenities.

Completed in February, the two latest mixed-income phases from the development team are the 80-unit Amani and the 90-unit Nia. The units are restricted to households with incomes ranging between 30% and 60% of the area median income. In addition, over 65% of the units are for large families, including 64 two-, 42 three-, and eight four-bedroom apartments.

The new buildings are more than just housing. Amani features approximately 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and neighborhood services, including space for a grocer, a food hall, a health and wellness center operated by the San Francisco Department of Public Health, an early childhood education center headed by the Felton Institute, and coworking space for local nonprofits. Nia also provides approximately 4,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, including a café and six micro-retail spaces to be subleased to local small business owners.

“The completion of Amani and Nia is a critical milestone in the HOPE SF vision to transform Sunnydale into a vibrant neighborhood with high-quality affordable housing and community-serving amenities,” says Ann Silverberg, CEO of the Related California’s NorCal Affordable and Northwest divisions. “It is rare to be able to deliver new affordable housing along with 25,000 square feet of community-serving ground-floor space that will provide residents with ready access to a wellness center, a childhood education center, and local retail including fresh food.”

Mercy Housing California provides a range of on-site social services, including life skills training, financial literacy, and access to resources such as food banks, as well as monthly and ongoing social activities. Residents also have access to The Hub, a 30,000-square-foot community center across the street that is home to the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco’s Sunnydale Clubhouse and Wu Yee Children’s Services early childhood education center.

The $180.7 million Amani and Nia were powered by partnerships between the developers, the city and county of San Francisco, the state, and numerous financial partners.