City Government

Board of Supervisors OKs Lease for Shelter At 711 Post Street

“It is going to take all of us working together as a city if we want to achieve our ambitious effort to move thousands of people off the street and into shelter and permanent housing,” said Mayor London Breed. “The approval of the lease at 711 Post not only allows us to build on the progress that we have made over the past two years to add new hotels for housing and shelter, but it also provides us an opportunity to recreate a temporary shelter model that further meets the needs of all of our homeless residents.”

Published

4 years ago

February 13, 2022

Oakland Post

San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed.

Site will provide temporary shelter for 200-250 people experiencing homelessness in the surrounding area, building on Mayor Breed’s Homelessness Recovery Plan

The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to approve Mayor London N. Breed’s proposal to open a new shelter at 711 Post St. for adults experiencing homelessness. The vote to fund the master lease and operations of the Ansonia Hotel will allow the site to be used as a semi-congregate shelter, with 123 units ranging from singles to quads able to shelter approximately 250 people.

“It is going to take all of us working together as a city if we want to achieve our ambitious effort to move thousands of people off the street and into shelter and permanent housing,” said Mayor Breed. “The approval of the lease at 711 Post not only allows us to build on the progress that we have made over the past two years to add new hotels for housing and shelter, but it also provides us an opportunity to recreate a temporary shelter model that further meets the needs of all of our homeless residents.”

The City conducted a search for properties that would allow long-term semi or non-congregate shelter options that build off the lessons learned at Shelter in Place hotels, leading to the implementation of a new type of shelter model.

The site at 711 Post offers a unique opportunity to provide shelter in a building with private and small rooms, community space, and high-quality amenities rather than a traditional congregate facility.

Other amenities include a lobby and front desk, basement, community area, commercial kitchen, dining space, laundry room, office space, security camera system, elevator, lockers and storage, and bathrooms and showers on each floor.

“Shelter is a critical and core component of our Homelessness Response System,” said Shireen McSpadden, executive director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “With our concentrated efforts at the Tenderloin Linkage Center, there is an increased urgency to expand our shelter capacity to people experiencing homelessness who are ready to exit the street.”

The site will have 24-hour staffing, services, and daytime case management provided by non-profit partner Urban Alchemy, who was selected due to their recent success managing Shelter in Place Hotels, Safe Sleep programs, and community ambassador programs.

The contract with Urban Alchemy will also include funding for street activation and monitoring in the surrounding area 24 hours per day, seven days per week, focusing on discouraging loitering and preventing encampment activity and disruptive behavior outside of the shelter.

“The 711 Post model is an incredible opportunity to provide a stable shelter with resources for those in need, and to ensure cleaner, safer streets in the surrounding neighborhood,” said Lena Miller, CEO of Urban Alchemy. “Urban Alchemy is committed to delivering our holistic approach — embracing our unhoused neighbors who need safe spaces and embracing the neighborhood, so the quality of life improves for everyone.”

The lease of 711 Post Street builds on Mayor Breed’s Homelessness Recovery Plan by helping the City create more shelter and housing for homeless residents as San Francisco emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. Through Mayor Breed’s plan, the City will expand capacity in the Homelessness Response System and aims to make 6,000 placements available for people experiencing homelessness by expanding the City’s housing options.

Progress on Mayor Breed’s Homelessness Recovery Plan can be found here: sf.gov/data/homelessness-recovery-plan

The San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Communication provided this report.

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Activism

Marin City Public Housing Residents Demand a Voice in County’s Renovation Plans

Representation has been a continuous struggle for the Residents Council, she said in an interview with the Post News Group. In 2014, the tenants took the county to federal court over this issue, and prevailed, resulting in an MOU that was in effect from 2014 to 2024, said McLemore. “Now, they are not responding to our rightful requests to participate. They are not giving us a legal justification for their position.”

Published

4 days ago

May 10, 2026

Oakland Post

The largest housing complex in Marin County, Golden Gate Village residents are for predominantly Black and low-income. Courtesy image.

Tenants say the County of Marin is ignoring federal law requiring resident council participation

By Ken Epstein

Marin City public housing residents say the County is illegally depriving them of their rights to participate in renovation decisions that affect the future of their housing, raising deep concerns over whether the county ultimately will find a way to displace them.

According to regulations established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Marin City public housing residents have the right to organize, elect resident councils, and hold public housing agencies accountable for involving them in management decisions.

Without resident participation, the Board of Housing Commissioners, made up of the five Marin County Board of Supervisors and two resident comissioners, has approved a $226 million project. The plan calls for renovation of the 296 units in Golden Gate Village (GGV) and focuses on interior improvements. The project is scheduled to start in July.

Residents’ concerns have a long history, said Royce McLemore, president of the Golden Gate Village Residents Council and a 50-year resident of Marin City,

With no current MOU mandating training and participation of residents, the legal basis for all the redevelopment decisions made by the county since 2024 is questionable, said Terrie Green, executive director of Marin City Climate Resilience. “We are experiencing voicelessness. If residents had a voice, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” she said.

County decisions include a plan, in line with federal regulations, to convert GGV from public housing to a public-private enterprise that allows for private investment. The Marin Housing Authority has created a limited partnership that includes Burbank Housing – which will renovate the units and manage the property – and Wells Fargo Bank, the investor.

This change in federal policy regarding public housing, which includes a shift to a Section-8 voucher system, has resulted in gentrification across the country, particularly affecting African Americans in cities such as San Francisco.

Shifts in criteria of what is considered affordable could also end up pricing residents out of their living units. At present, low income in Marin County is officially considered $156,000. But the median household income in Marin City is significantly lower at $68,846.

Damian Morgan, a community advocate with Marin City Climate Resilience, questioned why the county is renovating apartments without fixing toxic infrastructure that is impacting the lives of people in GGV.

Morgan said tenants have filed a class action lawsuit because of unsafe conditions at Golden Gate Village.

Residents are also concerned that the County still does not have an adequate family plan for temporary displacement while their apartments are being renovated. Although the County has suggested other community apartments as alternatives, nothing concrete has developed except vacant public housing units that have the same toxic conditions, such as mold and mildew.

Green said it doesn’t make sense. “…Why are we moving people around into temporary housing that’s uninhabitable, when you should be dealing first with the infrastructure, the foundational work, replacing old and rusted water pipes and new sewers.”

Morgan questions the County’s motivation for neglecting infrastructure repairs. “They’re remodeling the units but leaving the decayed infrastructure in place. I feel like they’re just setting this up for it to fail.”

“What slowed it down a little is that GGV is a historic preservation district, but I think what they’re striving for is demolition by neglect,” he said. “The neglect has always been on their part.”

Architect Ora Hatheway said her concern is about cutting corners. “You have to deal with the land issues. You have to deal with grading and drainage, and that’s being brushed under the rug.”

In an interview with KGO TV, Marin County Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters responded to some of these concerns. She said residents are guaranteed the right to return to their homes.

“This is a concern that we take seriously,” she said. “Every resident will move back into their own unit, and we’ve given this to them in writing. Before they leave their unit, we will sign a document together that guarantees their right to return.”

In response to residents who feel left out of the planning process, she said community input has focused on those affected by the first phase of the project. “So other residents may not have heard quite as much or felt like they had as much contact. But if there are residents who have concerns, we’re happy to hear from them. You can contact my office or the housing authority directly,” she said.

While County leaders may be giving some updates to some tenants, they are not sitting at the table with the Residents Council nor giving residents a voice in decision-making, said McLemore.

Without a voice in decisions, tenants are worried that Black people may be forced out of public housing, resulting in gentrification, she said in an interview with ABC 7. It’s still paternalistic, she said. “It’s still that ‘We know what’s best for you.’’’

Several years ago, the Residents Council proposed a land trust plan that would give tenants homeownership rights. Though the plan had broad support throughout the county, it was rejected by the Board of Supervisors

In the final analysis, Green said, for Marin City tenants the fight is not just for decent housing but to maintain their community with dignity under conditions of mutual respect.

“We’re talking about people who came here to work in the shipyards during World War II to bring about peace and safety to this country,” she said. “Look at the discrimination we’ve faced down through the years. Look at the life-span issue of Marin City folks – almost 20 years less than the rest of the County.”

“We want educational equity so our children will have decent schools. We need a land trust, property ownership, so we can have wealth creation. Marin City needs the same quality of life as other communities in Marin County.”