The Kelsey Civic Center

San Francisco, California

The Kelsey Civic Center, a white building with brown trim around the windows, is visible from the street at an angle.

San Francisco, California

Inclusion in the heart of San Francisco

The Kelsey Civic Center is a vibrant urban community offering 112 homes for people with and without disabilities of all incomes and backgrounds.

Anchored in inclusion, 25% of homes are reserved for people with disabilities in an accessibly designed building that supports multiple impact areas and access needs, supported by live-in Inclusion Concierge. The community serves as a beacon of sustainability and disability justice in the heart of a city with a rich history in both.

Photo Credits: Bruce Damonte

A brown and white paneled side of The Kelsey Civic Center is visible. The Kelsey Civic Center is visible with a blue sky in the background. San Francisco City Hall is visible behind the building. An angled view of the courtyard of The Kelsey Civic Center. Tables and chairs with people sitting at them and trees are visible. Strings of lights hang across the courtyard. A studio apartment at The Kelsey Civic Center. The room is colorfully decorated with a bed, a nightstand, a couch and a table and chairs. There is a counter wth a sink and a stove.

"We are excited to continue working with [the City of San Francisco] on The Kelsey Civic Center, a new affordable development that will implement Universal Design features throughout to allow for maximum accessibility for San Franciscans.”

Doug Shoemaker, President
Mercy Housing California
The Kelsey Civic Center, a white paneled building with brown trim around the windows, is visible from an angle.  A few people are seen crossing the street in front of the building.

Inclusive

Twenty-five percent of the units are dedicated to people with disabilities who use Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS), and The Kelsey Civic Center is the first project in the San Francisco housing lottery system to set aside units for people who use HCBS. The universally designed and accessible building provides programming for all residents and neighbors with the goal of fostering a mutually supportive environment rooted in the ethos of interdependence and informal support networks. Two full-time Inclusion Concierge staff members help residents navigate their neighborhood, engage with their city, connect to programs and activities, and build community among residents with and without disabilities.

The 1400sq commercial space on the first floor, directly across from city hall, houses the country’s first publicly funded Disability Cultural Center. The Center offers in-person and virtual programming. The Center’s design is aimed at accessibility and inclusivity with attention paid to systems and design features that creates a welcoming and accessible space for everyone in the disability community.

Sustainable

The Kelsey and its partners were awarded the site through Reinventing Cities, an unprecedented global competition organized by the C40 to drive carbon neutral and resilient urban regeneration. The Kelsey Civic Center models that an all-electric, low-carbon building can be affordable to people of all incomes. To support biodiversity and urban agriculture, the project offers a large garden within the building’s courtyard. Efficient units with shared community spaces minimize resource waste, support low carbon design, and foster a resilient community.

Affordable

The project offers 100+ units of affordable housing. All units are open to those who qualify at 20%, 40%, and 60% of area median income, creating a truly mixed-income community.

Development Partners

Mercy Housing California is a California-based nonprofit housing development organization with the mission of creating and strengthening healthy communities. They have created and preserved affordable housing for Californians for over 35 years. Today Mercy owns and manages 151 communities with over 10,300 homes statewide for more than 19,600 people.

The Kelsey Civic Center was designed by WRNS Studio, an architecture and planning firm specializing in high-quality sustainable design, and Santos Prescott and Associates, an architecture and urban design practice acclaimed for the spatial inventiveness and social responsibility of its work. San Francisco-based Cahill Contractors is the construction partner. 

Public funders for this project include:

  • State of California Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program
  • State of California Housing Accelerator Program
  • City of San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development
  • California Department of Developmental Services
  • U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Section 811 Program

Financing partners for this project:

  • JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
  • Golden Gate Regional Center
  • The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
  • Housing Trust Silicon Valley
  • Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco
  • Many generous individuals

Translated Materials

A video recap of The Kelsey Civic Center Groundbreaking