In a setback for housing advocates, an affordable senior housing development in the Outer Sunset has been put on hold indefinitely. The developers of 1234 Great Highway — a proposed eight-story, 199-unit affordable housing project that has drawn intense neighborhood opposition — announced this weekend that the project has been placed on an “extended hiatus.”
Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, the nonprofit leading the project with Self Help for the Elderly, said the project has faced financing challenges that have resulted in delays. They intend to reapply for funding in 2027 and, if successful, will begin construction in early 2028. Community meetings and virtual office hours, the group said, will not happen while the project is on hold.
Last year, Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation said that construction was expected to start as soon as 2026, with residents moving in by the end of 2028. “We recognize that this news may be disappointing, particularly for community members who have been closely following and supporting the project,” the nonprofit wrote in a blog post (opens in new tab).
All 199 units were planned to go for seniors at below market rates, half for formerly homeless seniors. The project would include an adult daycare center, a community room, and green spaces.
In recent years, the Sunset has seen a significant loss of affordable homes and a dearth of new affordable development, creating a need that the 1234 Great Highway project hoped to address. Statewide, seniors are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population, according to a 2024 report (opens in new tab) issued by the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. Nearly half of the homeless in California are aged 50 or older.
Despite that, many Sunset residents have been adamantly opposed to new developments. For years, little new construction took place in the neighborhood, though several projects are now in the pipeline. The 1234 Great Highway project, which would replace a Motel 6 and become the tallest building in the Outer Sunset, has attracted particular resistance.
Some Outer Sunset residents are angered about the proposed height of the project, which would take away their views of the ocean and sand dunes. | Source: Jungho Kim for The Standard
Opponents have argued that after the passage of Proposition K in 2024, which closed the Great Highway to cars, the project will hinder traffic and parking, and obstruct ocean views. Foes also say the project would encourage more bulky apartment buildings in the neighborhood, and could jeopardize public safety by including housing for seniors who had been homeless.
“I moved here for that view,” Nancy Federico, who lives in an apartment on La Playa Street behind the motel, told The Standard in 2024. “How are you going to compensate me? You’ve got to compensate me, or do I have to file a lawsuit?”
Proponents of the project, including ousted District 4 supervisor Joel Engardio, believe the project will bring much-needed housing to some of San Francisco’s most vulnerable residents. At a community meeting last year, a sizable contingent of the roughly 70 attendees said they were keen to rent apartments in the proposed project.
“We just can’t wait,” the septuagenarian Parkside resident Grace Chan told The Standard last year. “Especially in San Francisco, the rent is so high, and your Social Security income can’t keep up with it. I wish they can speed up the building so we can apply to see if we qualify.”
The site is one of five that the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development acquired in 2023 to build over 500 affordable housing units. Mayor Daniel Lurie’s office did not respond to a request for comment before publishing. Lurie has been tight-lipped on the contentious issue of seaside development and opposed Proposition K in 2024.
In their post, the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation said they remain “fully committed” to the project.
“The long-term vision for 1234 Great Highway has not changed, and we are focused on reactivating the project as soon as financing can be secured.”