San Francisco LGBT Community Center officials have been quietly working for months with a local design firm to map out a remodel of the building, which opened its doors 13 years ago.
According to a request for proposal issued in February, the project is estimated to cost more than $4 million and would "substantially renovate the building." Key changes listed in the document include increased office space for nonprofit tenants, a redesigned lobby area, and a cafe with independent street access.
The center's staff has begun informing tenants who rent office space in the building about the proposed remodel. And groups or individuals looking to rent space at the facility in 2016 are no longer able to do so, and instead, are being told center staff will follow up with them at a later date.
In interviews this week with the Bay Area Reporter, center officials stressed that they have yet to commit to moving forward with the project, as they have not lined up all of the necessary funding to pay for construction. They are targeting the New Markets Tax Credit program to provide the bulk of the money.
"We don't yet have a final plan for construction and we are not yet committed to doing the project," said center Executive Director Rebecca Rolfe. "Nor do we have a sense of what parts of the building will be usable during the project. We will work closely with our tenants to make sure our services and our tenants' services can continue."
The center's board chair, Rafael Mandelman, added, "There are lots of moving parts to this, that is why we can't be definitive about costs, the plan, and if we are going to move forward."
Nonetheless, Mandelman said he is optimistic that the necessary pieces will fall into place for construction to commence. An official decision is expected in late October or early November.
"I believe we will get to a project," he said. "I hope we do."
After receiving two responses to its RFP, center officials opted to work with Equity Community Builders, a San Francisco architectural firm whose projects have included the new A.C.T. Strand Theater on Market Street, the SFJazz center, and the Cavallo Point Lodge at Fort Baker in Sausalito.
The Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development is funding the design phase. The budget for the design consultants is estimated at $650,000, according to the RFP, with an additional estimate of $580,000 for assistance in securing the needed financing.
The project under discussion would not alter the exterior of the building. The focus is on the interior spaces of the center, which total 35,000 square feet.
"Some of the architectural choices resulted in spaces that made architectural sense but didn't create usable space," said Mandelman of the current design. "It is a big building. There is the potential for a great deal of space for meeting rooms and rentable office space. All sorts of uses that would generate value."
Building's Design Long An Issue
Even before the building first opened to the public in the spring of 2002, the center's design had been at issue. Initial plans had called for the demolition of the Fallon Building, a Queen Anne-style Victorian built in 1900 at the corner site, where Market Street and Octavia Boulevard intersect.
But preservationists successfully fought to save the historic structure, sending center boosters back to the drawing board to rework their plans. Local architect S. Jane Cee led the design and construction team, which was a partnership between her Cee Architects and Pfau Architecture, now Pfau Long Architecture.
Their marriage of a new modern steel structure with the older wooden building was praised within architectural circles. It won the 2004 AIA SF Design Award for Excellence.
Cee did not respond to a request for comment for this story by deadline Wednesday. Dana Van Gorder, who helped select the center's site and served on its board prior to its opening, told the B.A.R. he is not surprised the current board is looking at remodeling the building.
"We made the best guesses at the time on how to program the building. I think it should be flexible and responsive to what is going on in the community now and what the needs are," he said. "I certainly would be interested in knowing what they are doing. I can't imagine anybody who would object to the idea of making changes. We all make changes to our houses every once in awhile."
Various issues with the layout of the community center and its two community rooms have cropped up over the years. Alterations to the interior have already been made, including a redesign of the lobby area and relocation of the cyber center to the ground floor to better activate the space.
"We have heard for years in the community the thought, the idea that the space could be used better in ways more beneficial for the community," acknowledged Mandelman. "We actually did a survey of our founders, donors, and community partners a couple of years ago. We heard that and concerns about the sustainability of the building and the sustainability of the business model."
One idea center officials had pursued was bringing in commercial tenants to bolster its bottom line. For the 2013-2014 fiscal year, the center reported total revenues of more than $2,154,536. Its expenses totaled nearly $2.3 million, resulting in a shortfall of nearly $140,000.
For four years a gay-owned cafe operated out of a section of the ground floor, but it shuttered in 2008 after a sale of the business fell through over the terms of the lease with the center. Five years ago center officials engaged in talks with a local restaurateur about taking over the fourth-floor ceremonial room space and outdoor balcony to open a rooftop restaurant and bar.
While the city did rezone the building so it could house commercial tenants on the ground and fourth floors, and center officials sought out proposals from business owners in early 2011, nothing came of those plans.
Current Plans
The current focus with the remodel centers on adding more office space to house LGBT nonprofits and other agencies that serve disadvantaged communities. Due to the city's expensive real estate market, many local nonprofits are being priced out of the city when their leases come up for renewal.
"We got together with our architect and started thinking about ways that building might become more useful for the LGBT community and how it might help address the needs for nonprofit office space, which is in short supply," said Mandelman. "This is a really important asset and are we using it as well as we should. The answer, I think, we have arrived at it is we could probably use that space better. We can get more out of it for the LGBT community and for the broader San Francisco community."
At the same time, Rolfe said the center wants to ensure, following any remodel, it can continue to host the hundreds of events and meetings each month it currently does. Center officials also would like to see more services be housed on site for the 9,000 visitors per month who come to the building, added Rolfe.
"This is an opportunity to make the center an even stronger resource for the community and gives us the ability for creating a richer onsite suite of services provided by the center and our tenants," said Rolfe.