Grant Bldg. Saved from Evictions

Grant Building Saved for Nonprofits, Artists, Small Businesses

Tenants Achieve Their Goals - Look to Future

SAN FRANCISCO (Mar. 19)- After six long months of resistance to eviction and dogged pursuit of negotiations, the Grant Building Tenants Association has achieved its goals: no evictions, affordable rents, and multiyear leases. New leases were signed Friday, March 16.

The GBTA was aided by the City-wide antidisplacement movement, housing activists, independent members of the Board of Supervisors, the Mayor, and people prominent in San Francisco culture. In particular, the GBTA formed alliances with tenants of the Mint Mall and the Redstone Building as well as with the South of Market Antidisplacement Coalition and the Mission Antidisplacement Coalition. Supervisor Chris Daly's support was crucial to the GBTA's success in negotiations.

"Over the months, the association developed a savvy strategy that blended grassroots politics, City Hall lobbying, and media contacts, while relying on expert legal advice from Randy Shaw, of the Tenderloin Housing Project," said Karen Topakian, of the Agape Foundation. "We owe much to all who helped us. We will be there when they need us."

The building owner, Seligman Western Enterprises, eventually recognized that the tenants were, in fact, valued by the City in ways that the out-of-state developer had trouble understanding. In the end, Seligman apparently came to realize that the GBTA was an asset that refused to go away. GBTA attorney Randy Shaw said, "We appreciate that Seligman continued to work with us to reach a mutually acceptable agreement."

"The artists, writers, nonprofit organizations, and small businesses who work in the Grant Building have reclaimed a small part of San Francisco," said Jim Brook, poet and GBTA member. "We stood up for our right to the City, and we stood together in our claim that urban space is a public resource, no matter who owns it. In any case, one building is not enough. The City still must find solutions to gentrification and displacement."

According to GBTA members, the organization plans to continue to push for the development of the Mid-Market area as a haven for community nonprofit organizations, small businesses, spaces for artists and writers, social services, and affordable housing.

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