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Overview

This 106-unit affordable housing building was located in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco, CA, on the northwest corner of Howard and 6th Streets.

Building History

Completed in 2005, this attractive, 9-story apartment building was designed by Richard Stacy of the firm Leddy Maytum Stacy. Stacy has viewed this building as being very important for the LMS firm, moving its orientation toward socially-responsible housing projects. He was quoted on his firm's web site in 2016: "If you had asked me when we started LMSA if I would be focused on housing, I would not have predicted that. But my earlier career, which was broad in scope, was a strong foundation for the work that we always wanted to do. We've created a cohesive and stable practice to support the design of mission driven projects including housing. You have to have a consistent approach and consistent values. Plaza Apartments was our watershed moment in special needs housing. Getting your first significant project is always a big hurdle. It was controversial at the time, but we didn't shy away from that." (See Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects (LMSA), "Richard Stacy," accessed 07/19/2016.)

The Affordable Housing Online web site discussed the Plaza Apartments' methods of financing: "Plaza Apartments was developed and operates with Federal housing financing. The property utilizes the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Federal housing program to make rent affordable to lower income tenants. The property was developed using the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program. This program incentivizes investors to inject capital into rental apartments for lower income Americans. The property received a tax credit allocation in 2003 for $1,181,098 with a 10 year value of $11,810,980. The property was placed in service in 2005. 106 of 106 units at Plaza Apartments are low income and subject to the tax credit program. The property, at the time of the tax credit allocation, was located in a Qualified Census Tract and a Difficult Development Area qualifying it for additional tax credit financing." (See Affordable Housing Online, "Plaza Apartments," accessed 07/19/2016.)

PCAD id: 20373