The end of a stalemate between landlords and tenants in an apartment building near Mission Dolores Park was heralded with a jubilant news conference April 6, at which it was announced that a nonprofit has acquired the building — allowing the renters to stay.
The Mission Economic Development Agency purchased the building at 3661 19th Street for $7.48 million, as part of the city's Small Sites Program, which is funded by the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development.
As the Bay Area Reporter reported back in 2021, the 12-unit, rent-controlled complex was bought by two limited liability corporations in August 2018. Shortly after the purchase — in spite of alleged assurances from a prior owner — the LLCs began efforts to evict the tenants through the Ellis Act.
The Ellis Act, signed into law by then-governor George Deukmejian in 1985, is a state law that prevents municipalities from banning evictions if the property owner decides to go out of business as a landlord. It was one of the few forms of eviction allowed to continue during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.
Now, through the city's small sites program, MEDA has purchased the building, according to the mayor's housing office.
"MEDA officially purchased the site on January 27, 2023 which ended a no-fault Ellis Act eviction that would have displaced longtime BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and people of color], LGBTQ+, and senior residents," stated Anne Stanley, communications manager for the office. "The building is now preserved as permanent affordable housing and will undergo rehabilitation to address seismic, electrical, plumbing, elevator, and roofing upgrades."
The city committed $9.9 million in permanent financing for the building, including acquisition and rehab, according to an information sheet from the Citywide Affordable Housing Loan Committee. The funding source is general obligation bonds.
Jose Garcia, preservation program manager at MEDA, said at the news conference that "we are proud to have worked alongside these residents and community to make this possible."
Eric Shaw, a gay Black man who is the director of MOHCD, told the B.A.R. that "central to our office's mission is investing in programs that support efforts to fight displacement and increase housing stability for all San Franciscans."
"The acquisition of 3661 19th Street ended a no-fault Ellis Act eviction that would have displaced long-time San Francisco residents," he stated. "The 12-unit building will now remain permanently affordable for current and future tenants."
Tenant Paul Mooney — who played a key role in organizing his fellow residents — celebrated the victory.
"I'm happy to announce that we won!" Mooney said. "I moved to San Francisco as a gay man looking for a community of my own, looking for a place to call home. I love it here: this wonderful, weird, wacky city and this neighborhood. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else as magical as this place."
Mooney's tenacity was saluted several times during the news conference — from rerouting his morning walk so he could check in at MEDA's offices to, as the B.A.R. reported at the time, buying fake coal and delivering it to the former landlords at their homes in Redwood City.
Mooney said that this is proof "you can beat the Ellis Act. You can fight an eviction."
Steve Collier, a gay man who's an attorney with the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, said, "it was really a battle on all fronts." By pushing the prior landlords both in and out of the courtroom, Collier said the tenants were able to have them realize it made more financial sense for them to accept a deal.
"Their whole business plan was to get the tenants out in three months," Collier said at the news conference. "It's crazy to think they can get away with that in San Francisco."
"Not with Steve Collier," interjected gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman. The building is in his district.
"It's a great outcome for these tenants, and it's also great that District 8 will have 12 more permanently affordable units in a neighborhood that has experienced significant gentrification and displacement," Mandelman stated to the B.A.R. "I'm very grateful to the mayor's office, MEDA, Tenderloin Housing Clinic, community advocates, and the residents themselves for their perseverance."
Mandelman said at the news conference that Districts 8 and 9 (the Mission) are the epicenter of no-fault evictions in the city.
"These are wonderful communities and the things that make them wonderful to live in make them wonderful for speculators," the supervisor said.
"There's a special place in heaven for attorneys in San Francisco, on the frontlines every day," he added, thanking Collier for his 36 years of service in fighting evictions.
The building's current occupants are 60% LGBTQ, 50% Asian American/BIPOC, and one-half are senior citizens with "a large majority [of] people living with disability," according to a MEDA fact sheet.
Larry Kuester, a gay man who's lived in the building for 33 years, the longest time of any tenant, according to MEDA, is just happy it's over.
"It's been extremely stressful," he said. "I'm delighted. It's the best news we could receive."
The former owners of the property could not be reached for comment.
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