SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — A new affordable housing complex is set to open next month in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood. The Sophie Maxwell Building is named after a former city supervisor.
It’s built at the site of an old power plant and is part of a larger waterfront master plan that includes residential units, public open space, as well as retail and commercial space.
Community members in San Francisco’s Dog Patch neighborhood are celebrating a new place middle class families can call home.
“We’re excited. This is big for folks who are actually trying to earn a living, still live in San Francisco, to have a place to afford,” said Supervisor Shamann Walton.
The Sophie Maxwell Building includes 105 units of affordable housing.
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The building was named after the former San Francisco supervisor who actually shut down the Potrero Power Station years ago and helped make the area livable.
Supporters say the eight-story apartment building was designed with middle class residents in mind — people who might otherwise not be able to afford living in the city, like teachers, first responders, city employees and such.
“We said working people — carpenters, electricians, nurses, teachers. People that sometimes get left out because they are not in the very low and they’re not in the very high (income bracket). These are the people that make the city work,” said former Supervisor Sophie Maxwell.
“Each one represents an opportunity for a family that may have otherwise been priced out,” said Mayor Daniel Lurie.
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ABC7 News Reporter Lyanne Melendez visited the Potrero Power Plant area last year to show us the framework where the new mixed development would rise.
Today, these apartments are ready for tenants to move in November 1.
The master plan calls for 2,000 additional housing units, a hotel, a UCSF Cancer Center, and 7 acres of open space.
The 330-foot dormant smokestack from the original power plant stays put.
“When it was a power station, it was dirty and awful. Now it’s just the remnants of our industrial past. But putting a park around it is a whole new world here,” said Alison Heath of San Francisco.
“It really means a lot to have a building that will be affordable for working people in a neighborhood that has really experienced a lot of raising rents through gentrification,” said Peter Linenthal, Potrero Hill Archives Project Director.
Supporters say open space plus affordable housing are big reasons for San Francisco to celebrate.
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