Tahanan Supportive Housing provides 145 permanent supportive studio homes to San Franciscans who have experienced homelessness. The Tahanan team has identified an innovative, replicable model for scaling up the supply of 100% affordable, service-enriched homes for people exiting homelessness. By attaching ambitious cost-saving and time-saving goals, using SB 35 and the State Density Bonus for expedited entitlement process and added site density, accessing flexible funds, and utilizing offsite modular construction to complete units, Tahanan was completed in half the time and for 30% less cost than traditional developments for people experiencing homelessness.

Tipping Point Community and San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) provided the upfront philanthropic funding for the development. The large pool of flexible, unrestricted, upfront funding could be put up at risk and could be applied to a very wide range of uses, with little to no regulatory requirements. No public funds from the City of San Francisco were used to construct the project. Instead, the City entered into a long-term lease which will support debt service on the project’s permanent loan.

Designed as an intervention to chronic homelessness, Tahanan provides critically needed permanent supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness, who are referred to the property through San Francisco’s coordinated entry system. Tahanan’s design was created with the input of people who have experienced homelessness. This ensured that the building would deliver quality of life alongside supportive services to enable the property’s residents to live comfortably and as independently as possible in their new homes. All 145 studio homes are entirely modular and are equipped with ensuite bathrooms and a warming kitchen, and each unit also features a large window oriented for natural light and views as well as an individual air conditioner for personalized climate control.

Prior to site acquisition, the property was underutilized as a parking lot. To qualify for
streamlined entitlements under SB35, the development partners worked with the city to amend the planning code to permit 100% affordable housing on this site and similar sites around the city. This process not only made Tahanan’s development possible but increased the odds of affordable development at other sites as well. The site is located near public transit options, grocery stores, and community parks that provide the infrastructure essential to the success of resilient affordable housing.

Location: San Francisco, California
Developer: Mercy Housing California
Development Partners: San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), Tipping Point Community