San Francisco's housing landscape is poised for a significant shift with the groundbreaking of the 300 De Haro Street affordable housing project in Potrero Hill. State Senator Scott Weiner, DM Development, and MRK Partners, who are at the helm of the venture, were present at the party ceremony, per SF YIMBY. Set to be the largest affordable housing development to rise in the city within the past five years, the 11-story structure will usher in over four hundred units, catering to those earning 30% to 70% of the area’s median income.

Despite the project breaking ground, it has not been an easy road leading up to this point. The development, a beneficiary of Senate Bill 35's streamlined permitting, still grappled with setbacks due to the economic shockwaves from the COVID-19 pandemic, such as soaring interest rates and a lending slowdown. Nonetheless, after a determined push through these financing hurdles, the 300 De Haro project is fully committed to affordable housing – a pivot from its initial mixed-income blueprint, thanks to federal funding programs. "Having 425 new affordable homes here on De Haro Street means that 425 people or more will now have a home," Senator Weiner, the author of SB 35 and the extending Senate Bill 423 declared, The San Francisco Examiner reports.

The project’s journey illustrates the practical application and potential impact of SB 35 on housing development in California. DM Development CEO Mark MacDonald highlighted the critical expedited six-month permit process under SB 35. He noted that otherwise, "it would have taken years, decades, maybe never," he said, for the project to be entitled, as told to The San Francisco Examiner. Despite the accelerated permit timeline, the project's progress underscores housing development financing challenges amid pandemic-induced economic instability.

Upon completion, the building will offer a mix of 425 studio apartments and aim to include approximately 6,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. According to DM Development, landscaping enhancements such as a rooftop deck and a patio extension on De Haro Street are also in the pipeline, adding to the community-centric appeal of the development. These plans mark a concrete step towards addressing the city's deep-seated affordable housing crisis, amid calls for more developments utilizing streamlined processes like SB 35 to expedite construction. "We know that future buildings utilizing the [law] will be able to go faster, because Mark was the trailblazer," said Corey Smith, executive director of the Housing Action Coalition, in a statement obtained by The San Francisco Examiner.