Building Affordable Housing with Discipline, Efficiency, and Care

Building Affordable Housing with Discipline, Efficiency, and Care
By Nathan Rundell, President, Build Group

San Francisco has always been a city defined by ambition, creativity, and density of ideas. Today, it is also defined by a very practical challenge: how to deliver housing — particularly affordable housing — efficiently, predictably, and at a cost the market can sustain.

Affordable housing is not a new conversation in the Bay Area. What is changing is the pressure on execution. Costs per unit remain high. Schedules are tight. Funding is finite. And every inefficiency compounds risk —for developers, public partners, and the communities these projects are meant to serve.

At Build Group, we don’t position ourselves as policy experts or tax-credit specialists. What we do bring is deep experience delivering residential projects at scale — and a conviction that disciplined execution, cost control, and schedule certainty matter more than ever in the affordable housing environment.

The Cost and Execution Reality

Across California, the need for affordable housing continues to far exceed supply, while construction costs and financing constraints make delivery increasingly complex. According to RSMeans construction cost data from Gordian, labor, material, and equipment pricing for multifamily construction has experienced sustained upward pressure since 2020, leaving far less room for inefficiency once projects move into construction.

This cost environment puts a premium on builders who can plan carefully, sequence intelligently, and manage risk early — before budgets and schedules begin to drift.

Compounding the challenge, the construction industry has struggled to improve productivity. Research from McKinsey Global Institute shows that construction productivity has grown by less than 1% annually over the past two decades, lagging far behind most other industries.

That reality is why execution — not theory — has become one of the most important variables in whether affordable housing projects ultimately succeed.

Applying Residential Discipline to Affordable Projects

Since 2020, Build Group has delivered more than 8,000 residential units across the Bay Area, spanning high-rise towers, mixed-use developments, and complex urban infill projects. That experience has shaped how we approach every job — through a lens of constructability, sequencing, cost transparency, and schedule discipline.

We’re now applying that same residential rigor to affordable housing work.

Two current examples include:

• 1687 Market Street in San Francisco, where Build Group is engaged under a stand-alone contract for demolition and earthwork and actively supporting preconstruction efforts toward an executed GMP.
• 470 Market Street in San Jose, a large affordable housing project where early coordination and efficiency planning are central to managing cost and delivery expectations.

In both cases, our role is not to redefine affordable housing policy—but to help projects move forward with clarity, efficiency, and fewer surprises.

1687 Market: A Project That Demands Careful Execution

The project at 1687 Market Street is particularly meaningful because of the care required to deliver it well.

Developed by Artist Hub on Market, and partnering Randall Kline and Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB), the 17-story mixed-use building will include approximately 95,500 square feet of affordable housing, including 102 units and 28,770 square feet dedicated to the arts community, including a black-box theater and café.

Build Group’s focus today is grounded and precise: enabling the site, supporting preconstruction, and working collaboratively toward a GMP that reflects real costs, real schedules, and real constraints. That early discipline is essential to long-term project success — especially in today’s cost environment.

Why This Matters Now

Affordable housing does not fail on vision — it fails on execution.

As builders, our responsibility is to bring:

• Realistic budgets
• Clear sequencing
• Schedule accountability
• And a collaborative mindset that respects the realities of public and private funding

We believe residential efficiency earned through years of market-rate and mixed-use delivery can help reduce risk and improve outcomes in the affordable housing space.

Looking Ahead

Affordable housing is not a side initiative for Build Group. It is an area where our execution strengths are increasingly relevant.

We are proud to support projects like 1687 Market Street and 470 Market — not by overly boasting, but by doing what we do best: building efficiently, transparently, and with respect for the communities these projects serve.

Because in the end, the most important contribution a builder can make to affordable housing is simple:

Delivering homes — on time, on budget, and built to last.