Bayfair Center Apartment Project Developers Cut Number Of Affordable Units

Developers hoping to build a multifamily project near the Bayfair Center shopping mall in San Leandro, California, altered their scope in newly resubmitted plans, decreasing the number of affordable housing units in their proposal.

AMG & Associates and Pacific Cos. want to develop at 15693 East 14th St., which was recently purchased by an affiliate of real estate executives Peter Lennon and Adam Goldenberg for $57M.  

The site was entitled in August 2021 for a 497-unit apartment complex, which would have featured 50% affordable units. New plans instead call for 487 units, with only 15% affordable, according to the San Francisco Business Times.

AMG and Pacific Cos. plan to place a cap on the rent for market-rate units in the property at 80% of the area median income, AMG principal Alexis Gevorgian told the SFBT.

The AMI for San Leandro in 2020 was just under $38K for an individual, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Gevorgian also told the SFBT that the project could break ground in as little as six months, provided the city gives the project the go-ahead, with estimated construction costs of $150M.

The companies are mulling over the possibility of adding for-sale apartment units into the project, and aim to finance the project through tax-exempt bonds.

Transwestern’s recent Q2 report on the multifamily sector in the Bay Area noted a massive undersupply of multifamily in the East Bay and San Francisco, with a Q2 occupancy rate at 96.7% in the East Bay and 8% rent growth.

These fundamentals are driven largely by potential first-time homebuyers being priced out of purchasing and forced to remain in the rental market, further straining supply.