Following Mission Local’s reporting of substandard living conditions and a rogue site manager allegedly collecting under-the-table cash from squatters at the Potrero Hill public housing complex, Supervisor Shamann Walton’s office confirmed it will call a hearing into the private management firm that oversees the site.
Natalie Gee, a legislative aide for the District 10 supervisor, said the hearing into the Eugene Burger Management Corporation would take place at the Board of Supervisors Rules Committee next month.
“We requested a hearing on Eugene Burger issues last year … and we kept that file open,” said Gee. Keeping the file on the private management firm open allowed the supervisor to hold follow-up hearings if problems arose — as happened.
Walton said he met with housing project residents and city leadership on Tuesday, but declined to answer how those talks went, or who in city leadership was involved.
But, he said, the San Francisco Housing Authority “is responsible.”
Eugene Burger Management Corporation representatives have not responded to requests for comment.
Walton, who represents the area, also held hearings last July, which also came on the heels of Mission Local reporting about poor conditions at the housing project.
The San Francisco Housing Authority reported at the time that it was monitoring Eugene Burger’s performance, and that conditions were improving. Walton and some residents at the time remained unconvinced, and residents in recent weeks have told Mission Local of ongoing issues.
A December 2023 scorecard obtained by Mission Local had shown that Eugene Burger “did not comply” with four of its six performance metrics, including housing quality standards and handling of work orders.
The city is rebuilding Potrero Terrace and Annex, a sprawling complex of 500-plus units atop Potrero Hill that was originally built in the 1940s and ‘50s. Tenants are being urged to take new housing placements elsewhere, and the vacant units they leave behind have attracted squatters.
Eugene Burger took over management of the site for the Housing Authority in 2022, and the rebuild is scheduled to be complete in 2033.
“The quickest and most strategic thing for the city to do is to speed up construction and get people housed,” Walton’s aide, Tracy Brown-Gallardo, said. “We’re working closely with the city to address any wrongdoing to the residents.”
Brown-Gallardo said that the fact that residents would pay cash under the table in order to squat in deteriorating abandoned units was “a sign of how desperate people are for housing.”
Anne Stanley, a spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, said the department is aware of “ongoing issues regarding unleased residents occupying vacant units at Potrero.”
“We are actively coordinating with [San Francisco Housing Authority] to address the issues at the site as well as coordinating with service providers to support all those currently residing on-site,” Stanley said in a statement. “We will continue to work collaboratively with all our partners to ensure conditions in Potrero improve.”
