Alice Griffith Housing Redevelopment Project
Currently in the Bay View District of San Francisco, the Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Shipyard is pending approval for redevelopment and revitalization. This includes the 256-unit Alice Griffith housing development known as Double Rock. The Bay View District is not one of the safest neighborhoods with its high crime rate and recent spike in Muni transit related crime, leaving a lot of the residents feeling exiled. I recently spoke to a few residents of the Alice Griffith community and one woman, Yvonne Green, struck a chord when she said, “I really hope that the redevelopment is approved so that we can make this a safer and healthier environment, if not for us for our growing children.”
The U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development established many goals they’d like to attain to in the redevelopment, one of them being to establish a 10,000 unit multi income community. Being that Bay View is such a diverse mix of incomes and nationalities it has the optimism of bringing the community together. Within the pending plan the 10,000 units would be placed on 300 completely rebuilt acres of land: creating access to recreational space, neighborhood amenities including a community center and job training opportunities for the unemployed.
Not only would the area improve and in hopes create more of a community of the people the transportation, which is somewhat lacking on this side of the city, would expand. Currently the 29, T, 8x, and 9 are the most relevant bus lines with emphasis on the 29 and T-line because they bring you only three blocks from Alice Griffith. The 29 is the second busiest bus line in the city and is very unreliable to the residents of Bay View. Many locals I spoke with had the same opinion of the consistency of the 29 Sunset bus line.
In addition the plan wants to create retail and office space to increase the economic opportunity and success and develop a research and development campus. The estimated cost for the Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Shipyard project is 200 million. Financial needs are projected to be met by tax increment revenue generated by Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Shipyard, developer subsidies, and other affordable-housing sponsorship by the city.
Alice Griffith is one of the most distressed areas in the city and that is the very reason the rebuild is not wanted by residents but needed for the whole community. In essence the redevelopment would create more opportunity to the current residents, more appeal to perspective residents, in that it would be a multi income complex, and a safer environment for all of the community. Although it still in the pending process it is a necessary step for the sake of our children, safety, and health that we too as a community can get a quality lifestyle.
