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901 Fairfax at a glance
| Item | Documented detail |
|---|---|
| Location | 901 Fairfax Avenue, Hunters View, San Francisco |
| Project identity | Block 10, the second phase of the Hunters View redevelopment |
| Completion | 2018, according to David Baker Architects |
| Homes | 72 total: 38 one-bedroom, 32 three-bedroom and 2 five-bedroom homes |
| Parking | 14 vehicle spaces and 32 bicycle spaces |
| Project area | 90,895 square feet |
| Site area | 52,333 square feet |
| Environmental certification | LEED for Homes Gold |
| Recognition | American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) 2020 Honor Award in Residential Design |
The building completed Phase 2 alongside 107 homes at 847–848 Fairfax Avenue, identified as Blocks 7 and 11. Its role is larger than a stand-alone apartment building: the plan places homes, resident services, public space, landscape and routes through the site in one connected composition.
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What 901 Fairfax Hunters View Housing is
901 Fairfax is an affordable rental-housing project on a steep section of Hunters View. David Baker Architects describes all 72 homes as affordable. The San Francisco Planning Department’s 2017 Housing Inventory records 72 total rental units, with 71 identified as affordable and the development categorized as very-low-income family housing. Those statements come from different documents and dates, so the one-unit difference should be reported rather than silently resolved.
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The 2017 inventory is a historical record. Its rent figures, like its unit classification, describe conditions at that time and are not current asking rents. No reliable current rent schedule, income limit, vacancy count or waitlist status is established by the project records summarized here.
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Unit mix for households
| Home type | Number of homes | Share of 72 homes |
|---|---|---|
| One-bedroom | 38 | 52.8% |
| Three-bedroom | 32 | 44.4% |
| Five-bedroom | 2 | 2.8% |
The mix is notably family-oriented: nearly half of the homes have three bedrooms, and two have five bedrooms. There are no two- or four-bedroom homes listed in the architect’s project record or the 2017 inventory.
Why the affordable-unit count needs a qualifier
For a basic project description, it is accurate to call 901 Fairfax a 72-home affordable-housing development. For a precise administrative count, identify the source: David Baker Architects’ project record says 72 of 72 homes are affordable, while the San Francisco Planning Department’s 2017 inventory lists 71 of 72 as affordable rental units. Neither record by itself establishes today’s eligibility rules or the status of every apartment.
How the design makes a steep site work
The hillside is the project’s defining construction constraint. David Baker Architects says the team revised the building massing to reduce excavation and lower construction costs. Instead of treating the slope as a single platform, the design uses two wings, stepped outdoor areas and a network of paths to fit the grade.
Two wings and a landscaped entry plaza
The two building wings frame a landscaped entry plaza. That arrangement gives residents and visitors a recognizable arrival space while allowing the building to follow the hillside rather than forcing a large, uniformly excavated bench. The plaza also acts as the project’s public face, connecting the housing to the community uses inside.
A central spine of shared rooms
A central spine organizes the non-residential portions of the building. It leads toward an outdoor room and an oculus that admits sunlight and fresh air. The sequence is both an orientation device and a social framework: instead of placing services in an isolated annex, the plan makes shared spaces part of the daily route through the building.
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Open-air circulation and the oculus
An open-air stair provides an alternate route between the two wings. The oculus brings daylight and ventilation into the central area, reducing the sense of a deep interior corridor. These elements matter on a sloping site because circulation is distributed across levels rather than concentrated in one enclosed passage.
Landscape as infrastructure
The landscape narrative emphasizes waterwise and drought-tolerant planting, local materials and outdoor gathering areas connected across several levels. The ASLA jury specifically recognized the daylighting oculus, a quieter courtyard, site-wide accessibility and a retaining wall that doubles as a children’s climbing apparatus and chalkboard. The retaining wall therefore performs structural and recreational work at the same time.
Descriptions such as “safe” or “healthy” in project materials are design aims and project language, not independently measured outcomes. The documented design intent is to provide accessible routes, varied outdoor rooms and durable shared settings.
What is at the Hunters View community hub?
901 Fairfax combines housing with a broad set of resident-serving and neighborhood-facing spaces:
- Public plaza
- Child-development center
- Shared outdoor play zone
- Multipurpose community and event room
- Wellness center
- Recording studio
- Social-service offices
This mix explains why the project is described as a community hub rather than simply a 72-unit apartment building. Families can encounter child-development, wellness, event and social-service functions within the same overall address, while the plaza and outdoor rooms provide places to gather outside the dwelling units.
The records do not establish that every listed amenity is operating on a particular day. A building can retain a room in its original program while staffing, schedules or access rules change, so visitors should confirm availability with the current operator.
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The ASLA award citation praised the project for layering levels while maintaining site-wide accessibility. That judgment concerns the design presented for the award; it is not a post-occupancy measurement of how every route performs today. The project’s open-air stair, multiple levels, courtyard and plaza are best understood as a coordinated circulation strategy for a difficult topography.
A San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) focus group held at 901 Fairfax on January 28, 2019 had 22 attendees. Notes from that meeting recorded priorities including:
- Affordable housing
- Safety and safe passage
- Maintenance
- Jobs and job training
- Education
- Transportation
- Parks and recreation
- Wraparound services
Those notes document the input of that dated focus group, not a current consensus of every Hunters View resident. They are useful because they show the range of concerns residents raised after occupancy: physical conditions and movement through the neighborhood mattered alongside employment, education and services.
Project team and construction responsibilities
| Role | Firm or organization listed for the project |
|---|---|
| Developer | John Stewart Company |
| Architectural joint venture | Paulett Taggart Architects and David Baker Architects |
| Landscape architect | Andrea Cochran Landscape Architects |
| General contractors | Cahill Contractors and Nibbi Brothers |
The collaboration reflects the project’s hybrid character. Architectural work had to coordinate housing, shared rooms and hillside massing; landscape design had to connect multiple elevations and handle waterwise planting; and construction had to deliver those elements while limiting excavation on a constrained site.
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Awards and what they recognize
ASLA gave 901 Fairfax a 2020 Honor Award in Residential Design. The architect also lists an AIA California Residential Design Merit Award, an ASLA Honor Award for Residential Design and an AIA San Francisco Special Commendation for Commitment to Community Spaces.
The ASLA awards jury described the approach this way: “The designers creatively layered levels and carved out contemplative spaces while maintaining site-wide accessibility that contributes to a new image of what public housing could become.” The project statement presented on the ASLA page calls 901 Fairfax “the neighborhood hub for a community that has been vastly underserved in its past.” That is the project team’s statement, not a separately attributed resident quotation.
Hunters View neighborhood connections
MOHCD’s 2021 Phase III infrastructure evaluation places Malcolm X Academy next to the Hunters View site. It identifies Hilltop Park within 0.25 miles, Promontory Park four blocks away, Ironwood Park two blocks away and Indian Basin Shoreline Park 0.4 miles away. The same evaluation notes that Muni routes 19 and 44 run through Hunters View along Middle Point Road.
These figures are neighborhood context from a Phase III evaluation. They should not be read as a current transit timetable or as measured walking distances from the 901 Fairfax entrance. The report also discusses Phase III planning, environmental review, soil conditions and naturally occurring asbestos controls; those findings should not be applied to the completed Block 10 building without separate confirmation.
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Project design records cannot answer practical questions about today’s leasing or programming. Current applicants and residents should verify details directly rather than relying on the 2017 inventory or award materials.
Resident services, jobs and training
The Hunters View contact page directs people seeking services, including senior services, and information about construction or non-construction jobs and job training to the Bayview YMCA at (415) 735-3712 or the community center at 901 Fairfax Avenue.
General project and meeting questions
The same contact information directs community-meeting, media and general project questions to Catherine Etzel of the John Stewart Company. Confirm the current contact route before visiting, because the page does not establish present opening hours or service availability.
What to confirm before applying or visiting
- Whether applications or a waitlist are open
- Current income limits and household eligibility rules
- Available bedroom sizes and current rents
- Accessibility features and accommodation procedures
- Office, community-center and service hours
- Whether the child-development, wellness, recording and event spaces are currently operating
Why 901 Fairfax matters as a construction case study
For construction and housing professionals, the project offers several concrete lessons without requiring a comparison to another development.
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Topography can shape the social plan
Reducing excavation was not only a cost decision. The resulting stepped massing, two wings, plaza and open-air routes also produced distinct public and semi-private spaces. On a steep site, grading and circulation choices can determine how residents encounter services and one another.
Shared amenities need to be planned as circulation destinations
The central spine, outdoor room and oculus place community functions along the route through the building. This is different from adding a remote amenity room after the housing layout is fixed. The documented plan treats shared space, daylight and movement as one system.
Landscape can carry structural, ecological and social duties
Waterwise planting responds to San Francisco’s dry conditions; local materials support a coherent site language; courtyards and gathering areas provide social settings; and the retaining wall combines slope management with play. The project demonstrates how landscape elements can serve more than appearance.
Evidence should distinguish intent from performance
Award citations and project descriptions are strong evidence of design decisions, area, unit mix and stated goals. They do not prove current rents, maintenance quality, service hours, resident satisfaction or continued operation of every amenity. Those questions require current operator information or post-occupancy evidence.
Bottom line on 901 Fairfax Hunters View Housing
901 Fairfax is a completed 2018 Hunters View development with 72 homes, a strongly family-oriented bedroom mix and a substantial community-services program. Its most distinctive achievement is the way the building and landscape use a steep hillside: two wings, a landscaped plaza, an open-air stair, a central community spine, courtyards and an oculus turn difficult grades into connected public and resident spaces. The architect identifies every home as affordable, while the 2017 city inventory records 71 affordable units, so that distinction should accompany any precise unit-count claim. For current applications, rents, vacancies, eligibility and operating hours, contact the property or service operator directly.
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