SF’s Brand New “Navigation Center” Opens for Bayview’s Unhoused

San Francisco just opened the brand new “Navigation Center” in Bayview, and its first tenants have already moved in.

It’s The City’s 7th SAFE Navigation Center which began housing people on January 25, 2021. With the new opening, San Francisco now supports more than 14,000 unhoused people.

As with the City’s other SAFE Navigation Centers, the Bayview facility is designed to offer a safe, healthy, and dignified environment for unhoused individuals, especially those living in encampments.

Amenities at the site include a designed and landscaped courtyard, dedicated outdoor family space, indoor dining areas, community rooms with entertainment and quiet space, computer access, dormitories with personal storage, and a large number of durable showers and restrooms.

The facility is also in full compliance with citywide shelter policies and the City’s COVID-19 protocols—which means in the short-term capacity will be reduced to 116 beds until pandemic restrictions are loosed in order to maintain the safety of guests and staff.

“The Navigation Center concept was first tested five years ago in San Francisco’s Mission District, and it has proven an effective ‘low-barrier’ alternative to a traditional shelter,” said Abigail Stewart-Kahn, Interim Director, San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “The Bayview SAFE Navigation Center will allow homeless individuals, many local to the Bayview, to bring their belongings, significant others, and pets, and then be guided to services, stability and possibly supportive housing.”

The Bayview center was built on an underutilized 45,000-square-foot parcel owned by Caltrans and leased to the City. It was one of three proposed San Francisco shelter sites whose initial approvals were reversed in a surprising about-face from the Federal Highway Administration in May 2020 under the previous administration. Faced with a California-wide homeless crisis, City and State officials collectively agreed to move forward on the $19.2 million construction despite the federal government’s attempts to halt the project.

Acting Public Works Director Degrafinried noted, “Another benefit of the new center is the jobs it has created, both during construction and for ongoing operations, which is particularly important at this time given the City’s push for economic recovery during the global pandemic.”

Read more at the Office of the Mayor.