Three new apartment buildings have been filed for permits at the Balboa Reservoir site across from City College of San Francisco, pushing nearly two-thirds of the 1,100-unit master plan into active development. The filings cover Blocks C, D, and G, adding hundreds of market-rate and mixed-income units to a project that already has two buildings under construction on the 17.6-acre former reservoir site.
According to San Francisco YIMBY, developers are now advancing 704 of the master plan's 1,100 total units. Blocks C and D were filed together as 243 market-rate units at 198 Wisteria Lane, built using Type 3A construction over Type 1A podium structures, per the outlet's report. Block G, meanwhile, is described in a June-filed plan set as a 164-unit apartment complex sponsored by AvalonBay Communities and designed by Pyatok, with a unit mix of 61 one-bedroom, 89 two-bedroom, and 14 three-bedroom apartments, along with parking for 206 cars and 118 bicycles.
A separate filing covers 170 Meyer Lane, described as a five-story mixed-use project with 174 apartments and a podium garage, the report notes. Taken together, the new filings signal that market-rate and mixed-income phases are now catching up to the affordable housing blocks that broke ground first.
Two Buildings Already Rising
Block A, a 159-unit building, and Block E, with 128 units, are already under construction, according to the same report. Phase 1A infrastructure work began in November 2025, per Balboa Reservoir's project site. Block A's construction is being financed in part through $91.5 million in tax-exempt bond cap and $6.96 million in annual federal tax credits recommended by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee in August 2025, with construction slated to run from January 2026 through November 2027.
Block E's financing traces back further: financing needs for the 7-story building were discussed at a December 2024 housing loan committee meeting, according to a document posted on SF.gov. That building was designed with 1:1 bicycle parking and zero vehicle parking spaces, reflecting the master plan's broader push to limit car dependency near a transit corridor already served by City College.
The First Phase's Scope
The first phase of construction is expected to add 288 units to San Francisco's housing stock, with completion expected in 2028, per San Francisco YIMBY's reporting. That timeline places the earliest new residents moving in roughly two years after the wider infrastructure buildout began.
The project is led by BRIDGE Housing Corporation alongside AvalonBay Communities and Mission Housing Development Corporation, a structure that reflects the site's split between affordable, workforce, and market-rate housing. Half of the master plan's 1,100 units — 550 homes — are mandated to be affordable, a requirement set when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors granted final master plan and development agreement approvals in August 2020, according to Farella Braun + Martel. That mandate includes dedicated workforce housing: Block F, a 151-unit building designed by David Baker Architects and filed for permits back in July 2022, was planned specifically to prioritize housing for faculty and staff at City College of San Francisco and the San Francisco Unified School District, as reported by San Francisco YIMBY at the time.
From Utility Parcel to Housing Site
The property was expected to sell for $11.6 million, with the consortium expected to meet a December 31 purchase deadline, according to The Real Deal. The land carries an unusual history: the site was described as a never-used reservoir and later served as a City College parking lot, according to the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association.
The project includes coordinated parking and traffic management, according to The Ingleside Light.
Beyond housing, the master plan requires more than 4 acres of public open space, including a central two-acre Reservoir Park, greenways, a community center, and an on-site childcare center capable of serving up to 100 children, according to SF Planning. Along the site's western border, adjacent to Westwood Park, the plan also calls for a low-density component of 89 to 100 three-story, for-sale townhomes ranging from 1,700 to 2,400 square feet and designed by Dahlin Group.
With permits now filed for 704 of the plan's 1,100 units, the transformation of the former utility parcel across from City College continues to move from paperwork toward poured concrete.
