$45M Secured for Balboa Reservoir Affordable Housing, 29 Bus Improvements

Three state agencies awarded millions of dollars for San Francisco affordable housing projects, transit improvements and new city infrastructure, Mayor London Breed announced Wednesday.

A total of six projects with 1,224 new affordable and market-rate homes will benefit from $163 million, $45.7 million of which will go toward the Balboa Reservoir housing development in Ingleside. The remainder of funds will go to a projects throughout the city.

The funds come from the California Department of Housing and Community Development, California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency and California Strategic Growth Council through their Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program and the Catalytic Infill Infrastructure Grant program.

“Not only will this help advance our goals to build 82,000 units of housing in eight years, but it’s also going to provide safe and reliable transit access so people who use Muni and BART have a better experience, and help create bike lanes and sidewalks that are safe for our residents and visitors," Breed said in a statement.

The $45.7 million will go toward the Balboa Reservoir project's Building A, which will have 159 affordable homes. The funds will also support the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's 29 Sunset Transit Optimization project, a program to improve the bus line's reliability and shorten travel times along the route's eastern half, according to a news release.

• Related: SFMTA To Remove 26 Stops on 29 Sunset Bus Route 

“The best way for us to address regional traffic problems is to build more housing so more people who work in San Francisco can live in San Francisco,” SFMTA Director of Transportation Jeff Tumlin said in a statement. “We love the AHSC program because it not only helps us meet our housing goals, but also provides critical funding for transit reliability, pedestrian safety and smooth traffic management.”

The funds are timely as the city is struggling to meet a state-imposed housing production goal of 82,000 new homes to be built over the next eight years.