Natalie Gubb Commons I
(Transbay Block 7)
Natalie Gubb Commons I (NGC-I) is a 120-unit development located in San Francisco’s East Cut neighborhood. It serves households earning between up to 50% of the area median income and was awarded 24 project based Section 8 vouchers. Unit types range from studios to 3-bedroom and townhome units. Amenities include onsite property management and a resident services office, community room, and courtyard. There is one commercial space that is occupied by a 42-slot childcare center that provides subsidized services to low income households in the building and surrounding neighborhood.
This development was one of the first San Francisco developments to win a California Department of Housing & Community Development Affordable Housing & Sustainable Communities (AHSC) funding award. To win this award the project has no car parking, 54 bike parking spaces, and digital real time transit screens. Included in the scope of work for the award was a partnership with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority to help relocate and improve a bus stop as well as the build out and improvement of a regional carpool pick up and drop off area.
Total Development Cost: $84.7M
Funding Sources: San Francisco Office of Community Investment & Infrastructure, 4% Tax Credits, Tax-exempt bonds, State of California Dept. of Housing and Community Development - Affordable Housing & Sustainable Communities, Traditional Perm Mortgage, General Partner Equity, Deferred Developer Fee
Awards: 2019 Family Project of the Year by Affordable Housing Finance magazine
Challenges & Lessons Learned
NGC-1 was originally entitled as a six story 85-unit development. However, due to changing economic and funding conditions the project needed to undergo both a significant redesign and re-entitlement effort. Competitive funding sources were focused on cost/unit and there was mounting pressure for the City to maximize yield on all potential affordable housing sites. The development team was able to work with the City and community groups to increase the size of the project to 8 stories and 120 units.
To further reduce per-unit costs the project adopted a novel prefabricated structural steel frame assembly that was estimated to shave months off the overall construction schedule. While the structure received sign off from the Department of Building Inspections at permit issuance, a field inspector had a different interpretation of building code and issued a correction notice that required significant deconstruction and rebuild. The development team was able to adapt and phase field work to minimize this impact. However, as a result of this field correction we lost our initial projected construction schedule savings but still managed to stay within the project budget.
Role: Senior Project Manager
Oversaw all redesign, re-entitlement, finance, construction and lease-up efforts
Managed funding applications, construction closing, and perm conversion
Selected and negotiated contracts with various consultants, including final contracts with the general contractor and architect
Provided direction on how best to increase unit yield while reducing per unit cost to secure competitive financing
Managed commercial tenant selection process and negotiated lease terms
Image credits: (top to bottom) Michael O’Callahan Photography (header), Bruce Prescott, Michael O’Callahan Photography, Bruce Prescott, Bruce Prescott, New York Times, New York Times