Public Sites for Housing

As a Senior Planner at San Francisco Planning, I helped shape and launch Housing for Public Sites, an initiative to prioritize housing on underused public land. I worked across agencies to build agreement on the policy and advance sites toward development. One site I managed, at Van Ness Avenue and Grove Street, participated in C40’s Reinventing Cities competition.

My work included:

• Representing San Francisco Planning in C40 convenings and coordinating with interagency partners.

• Assessing the site and developing Site Specific Requirements aligned with local housing policies and C40’s environmental priorities.

• Supporting the request for proposals, developing evaluation criteria, and reviewing proposals to help select a development team.

• Connecting applicants with Planning reviewers and supporting agreements and administrative steps toward a long-term ground lease.

The site became The Kelsey Civic Center, which opened in October 2025 with 112 affordable apartments. Twenty-five percent are reserved for people with disabilities who use Home and Community-Based Services. The all-electric building includes energy-efficient homes, a courtyard garden, shared community spaces, and a Disability Cultural Center.