| Avant Housing, a JV between AGI Capital, TMG Partners, and CalPERS, kicked off construction on a nine-story, 282-unit apartment project with 5,000 SF of retail at 900 Folsom St, SoMa. The unnamed project is urban infill aiming for LEED Gold or equivalent. It'll provide just 210 parking spaces, but each unit will have secured bicycle parking. A 181-unit sister project next door (260 Fifth St) is slated to begin late summer. |
| Avant development principal Eric Tao tells us what makes SoMA great is that it’s full of older, rooted communities and businesses. At the same time, they don’t like to see gentrification and “Facebook millionaires coming in and changing the neighborhood” (that’s less likely now though, of course). Avant engaged the community early on and worked with residents over a five-year period to develop a project that everyone could support. Residents' concerns: safety and the pedestrian experience along the streetscape. |
| Elements the community likes: a large open space to enjoy and live-work flex space. Additionally, 15% of the 463 units will be affordable. Eric recently ran into a bicycle advocate who'd given him grief about 1-to-1 car parking on a previous project. When Eric told him the new project is also 1-to-1, the guy “got red in the face” until Eric explained that it’s bike parking. It’s purely market-driven— nearly every younger (or younger-minded) tech or biz professional who wants to live in SoMA has a bike. |
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