First affordable housing development for artists coming to San Francisco

By Loureen Ayyoub

Demolition is underway at a prominent corner of Market and Gough streets, where a new development aims to help artists afford to live and work in San Francisco.

Crews have begun clearing debris from the site, which will become a 14-story building designed to provide affordable apartments specifically for artists, along with space for live creative performances. Supporters say the project, known as Artists Hub on Market, will be the first development of its kind in the city.

“We’re at the corner of Market and Gough streets here,” said Randall Kline, a longtime arts leader involved in the project. “The crew here working on this is removing all the debris from the building that was demolished.”

Kline, founder of the nonprofit SFJAZZ, recently stepped away from the organization he launched in 1983 to focus on the new project in partnership with Mercy Housing. He said the central location makes the development particularly meaningful.

“Well, this is an amazing, central area of San Francisco here,” Kline said. “Just think of all the neighborhoods. The first one, the most obvious one, is the performing arts district up the street with SFJAZZ.”

Kline also pointed to the city’s long artistic legacy.

“There is a whole history of creativity here, from the very beginning, from the Gold Rush,” he said. “In the jazz world, Jelly Roll Morton, who claimed to have invented jazz, he lived on Market Street right here in San Francisco in the early 1900s.”

City leaders approved legislation last fall that will allow the building to rent exclusively to local artists. The San Francisco Arts Commission will develop and manage the certification process, expected to launch around 2027.

To qualify, applicants must demonstrate sustained engagement in the arts over the past three years. That can include earning more than $10,000 annually from artistic work in at least three of the last five years, receiving a grant to produce art, or showing professional commitment through a portfolio review.

Once leasing begins, the apartments will be listed through the city’s affordable housing portal, DAHLIA, where applicants with artist certification will be able to apply.

After decades supporting the jazz community, Kline said the project allows him to continue advocating for artists in the city he loves.

“I don’t know how to put it in any other words,” he said. “I love San Francisco. I love the life in San Francisco, and particularly the benefits, obviously, from the artistic life.”