Valencia Gardens

Built in the early 1950’s, this nearly 5-acre public housing development was programmed for replacement by the San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA), with the assistance of a Federal HOPE VI Grant.  The SFHA selected Mission Housing Development Corporation (MHDC), a non-profit developer with deep roots in the city’s Mission District, as the developer to re-create Valencia Gardens to better serve its long-term residents and assist in the revitalization of the key northern stretch of the District.

ECB was initially asked by MHDC, based on its success with North Beach Place, to assist the developer’s project management staff with an array of pre-development activities, focused primarily on oversight of the design team, negotiations of a fixed-price contract with the general contractor, and procurement of all permits for construction. ECB organized and led these efforts, meeting the established schedule for commencement of construction in concert with the closing of all financing in the final quarter of 2004. Several months into construction, ECB was asked by the developer and SFHA to expand its role to encompass oversight of the project budget and fiscal controls, and to provide comprehensive assistance in the management of the construction, lease-up and close-out of the project. The reborn Valencia Gardens was completed in September of 2006, under budget and on schedule, and was fully occupied before the end of the year.

In keeping with the design precepts of the HOPE IV program – rebuilding public housing developments with keen attention to best practices of “defensible” urban design – the design by Van Meter Williams & Pollack succeeds in creating individual front doors, pedestrian–scale street fronts along the exterior and interior of the site, a prominent community “front door” at the 15th/Valencia Street corner, and a sculpture garden for the return of the famous Benny Bufano sculptures that have always graced this community – while increasing the density of the site up to 260 new family and senior apartments. The development also provides residents with common areas for day care, computer learning and community gatherings.