The construction lending drought has gone on long enough, and now local developers are dusting off their user manuals on Section 220, a program of the Housing and Urban Development Department that insures loans for multifamily housing projects, provided they're in places slated for redevelopment. The developers noted by the SF Business Times are Emerald Fund and Martin Building Group, who are looking to build at 333 Harrison, and 2235 Third St and 178 Townsend St, respectively. Gotta give 'em props for being creative— the program hasn't been used much in recent years because as we all know, loans were pretty easy to come by for a certain period of time. But we're talking about pretty large projects here; according to the SFBT the program would only cover about two-thirds of a "modest wood-frame apartment complex" here, so our developer friends will likely have some more panhandling ahead of them.
· Builders tap HUD dollars for housing [SF Business Times]
· 333 Harrison Approved, Next Cycle Has Developers Drooling [Curbed SF]
[333 Harrison St, by David Baker + Partners Architects]