The AF Evans/Mercy Housing partnership is planning to build a residential development on the six-acre site that will include a mix of market-rate and affordable apartments over ground-floor retail and commercial space that will blend in with the surrounding community. The estimated cost of the project was not disclosed. It is expected that UC will retain land ownership of the site and receive ground rent payments from the development team.

The site is bounded by at Laguna, Haight, Buchanan and Hermann streets. The partnership has hired the architectural firm of Van Meter Williams & Pollack to design the master plan for the development. The number of units to be constructed and the cost of development have not yet been determined. Groundbreaking is anticipated in 2006.

The Sisters of Mercy established the non-profit Mercy Housing in 1981 to respond to the affordable housing crisis across the country. Mercy Housing has collaborated with dozens of public agencies and the private sector to build more than 15,000 housing units in 14 states, including 1,800 units in San Francisco.