Mayor Lurie Moves to Bring Nearly 2,400 New Homes to Western Addition, Following Years of Community Advocacy

SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Daniel Lurie today introduced legislation to advance Freedom West 2.0, a long-planned project in the Western Addition neighborhood that could bring nearly 2,400 new homes to the neighborhood, more than 17% of them expected to be affordable. The first phase will deliver 115 units of affordable senior housing and a rebuilt Freedom West Cooperative, with groundbreaking anticipated in the first half of 2027, while the full plan envisions four city blocks transformed by a mix of market-rate and affordable housing, public open space, and an innovation center.  

The legislation builds on Mayor Lurie’s work under the Family Opportunity Agenda to help people put down roots in San Francisco. Through Mayor Lurie’s Family Zoning plan, a major investment proposed for affordable housing, and other key measures, the city is driving new housing creation so San Franciscans can afford to raise their kids here. Through PermitSF, the city is also speeding up the permitting process to get housing built more quickly. In recent months, Mayor Lurie has opened new affordable homes across San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point, Mission, Hayes Valley, and Haight-Ashbury neighborhoods while breaking ground on 100% affordable artist housing on Market Street at the end of July and on 7,200 long-awaited homes at the former Candlestick Park stadium site in September. While building more housing, the mayor is also helping San Franciscans stay in their homes today. Last month, he announced a package of immediate actions in partnership with the Board of Supervisors to protect renters from unwarranted evictions and prevent sudden rent spikes.

“This is a transformative moment for the Western Addition. Residents of Freedom West and this community have long advocated for this vision, and today, we are moving to make it a reality,” said Mayor Lurie. “Freedom West 2.0 plans to deliver nearly 2,400 new homes that will support longtime residents and future generations while creating beautiful public spaces and bringing new opportunities for local businesses and workers. This investment in the future of the Western Addition helps secure a stronger future for our entire city, and I am proud to be moving this project forward alongside Supervisor Mahmood, the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, and our community partners.”

The Freedom West 2.0 project responds directly to years of advocacy by residents of Freedom West Homes, a nonprofit limited-equity housing cooperative. Working side by side with the developer MacFarlane Partners to shape the final plans, tenant owners secured a path to revitalize their aging co-op while further transforming the neighborhood. The legislation, developed with the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) and cosponsored by District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, establishes a development agreement that secures the project’s entitlements for a base term of 25 years.

At the heart of the plan is the rebuilding of the Freedom West Cooperative. After more than 40 years of deferred maintenance, residents have long needed better living conditions. The rebuilt co-op will deliver safe, modern, high-quality homes while keeping the limited-equity model and ensuring a majority of current shareholders remain homeowners.

“Freedom West was born out of displacement. Our founders built this cooperative so that Black and immigrant families pushed out of the Fillmore would have a place to stay and to own. For more than fifty years, we have held on,” said Mattie Scott, Freedom West Board President. “With this legislation, Mayor Lurie and Supervisor Mahmood are standing with us to make sure that the people who stayed are the people who benefit. Our families will not be moved out to make way for progress. We will be part of it, in new homes we own, for our children and grandchildren.”

“Freedom West 2.0 is about building a future for the Western Addition that honors its history, invests in its community, and creates room for more people to call San Francisco home,” said Supervisor Mahmood. “Just as importantly, the current co-op residents will remain in the neighborhood as their homes are rebuilt, preserving the community and connections that make this place special. By creating thousands of new homes alongside public open space and community resources, we can help more families put down roots in San Francisco while ensuring longtime residents are part of the neighborhood’s future.”

The plan includes 115 affordable senior homes, supported by $23 million from the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD). Groundbreaking on the senior homes is anticipated in the first half of 2027, with the new co-op to follow.  

“MOHCD and the Housing Authority of the City and County of San Francisco are proud to have supported the launch of the first phase of the Freedom West 2.0 revitalization effort through both capital funding and a voucher commitment,” said Daniel Adams, MOHCD Director. “We look forward to continuing our partnership with Freedom West and city agencies to help ensure the success of future phases of the master plan.”

Other community benefits in the final plan include 1.5 acres of open space that will allow for easier access to Margaret Hayward Park, restore connectivity with Octavia Street, and greater pedestrian and bicycle circulation through the neighborhood. The project plans also include a roughly 5,000-square-foot STEM entrepreneurship and innovation center that will offer opportunities for mentorship, training, and industry networking.  

“Our office is laser-focused on finding creative ways to accelerate housing production, so that we can deliver the kind of transformative projects our communities deserve,” said Anne Taupier, OEWD Executive Director. “Freedom West 2.0 is a game changer for the Western Addition—bringing renewed opportunity to a neighborhood that has waited decades for meaningful reinvestment at scale. This legislation ensures longtime residents can remain in their community and creates space for new residents to support its future and contribute to the success of San Francisco.”

“Freedom West 2.0 shows that San Francisco can build at scale without displacing the families who built this neighborhood,” said Victor B. MacFarlane, MacFarlane Partners Executive Chairman and CEO. “We are grateful to Mayor Lurie and Supervisor Mahmood for championing this legislation and the innovative public financing behind it. Limited-equity cooperatives have long been shut out of traditional affordable housing tools. This partnership changes that, and it gives Freedom West residents what they have fought for over decades: the right to stay, and a real stake in the value being created around them.”

Workforce development agreements will help create 9,000 construction and permanent on-site jobs. MacFarlane Partners has also committed to contracting with local small and micro businesses for work on the project.

“We are thrilled to see this project move forward as it will deliver thousands of union jobs for the workers transforming these four city blocks,” said Rudy Gonzalez, San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council Secretary-Treasurer. “This initiative not only creates vital new housing for San Franciscans but sets the stage to invest in a neighborhood that has waited too long for development to equate to prosperity for the local community.”

To strengthen the co-op’s long-term financial stability, Freedom West 2.0 will generate revenue through ground leases with affordable housing developers, retail spaces in the new buildings, and profit-sharing from future market-rate development.

While limited-equity co-ops lack access to traditional affordable housing financing tools such as Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, State Senator Scott Wiener’s SB 593 enables the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure (OCII) to use tax increment financing to support affordable housing replacement. The city plans to commit millions in SB 593 funds, pending required approvals, to close financing gaps.  

“This development will give thousands of San Franciscans a foothold in one of our most historic communities while helping to revitalize the neighborhood,” said Senator Wiener. “With Freedom West 2.0, years of community advocacy have put thousands of new homes to support a mixed-income community within reach. This is exactly the kind of project our city should be advancing, and I’m honored that my law SB 593 will play a part.”

“Freedom West 2.0 is an investment in keeping longtime residents rooted in the Western Addition,” said Thor Kaslofsky, OCII Executive Director. “This plan preserves affordability, prevents displacement, and ensures families who have shaped this community for generations can remain part of its future.”

“Freedom West 2.0 will bring thousands of new homes to San Francisco while helping to keep generations of families in the neighborhood they’ve called home,” said Sarah Dennis Phillips, San Francisco Planning Director. “We need more housing, and we can build it in a way that ensures longtime residents remain part of our city’s future.”