Another application filed to turn Armory into housing

This story was run in the Examiner almost a month ago, but I wasn't looking for it at the time...

Turns out another hardy soul has decided to take on the Supervisors and the Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition and try to turn the Armory building into housing and office space.

"A developer filed an application last month to turn the imposing Moorish-style fortress at 14th and Mission streets into 173 units of housing with some office space."

"A plan to turn it into a movie studio fell through in 1986 and a proposal for live-work lofts was abandoned in 1997. Partly because of its historic significance, it was at the center of the dot-com gentrification wars, with protesters flooding a Planning Commission meeting in 2000 to fight a new-media office complex."

There is also an old print shop on Mission @ 15th Street which has been on the Supervisor's radar as a location for housing. This would make up an entire city block that could be turned into more residential units, but so far there is nobody willing to take on the project and not get paid for it. Imagine that...

"The conversion [at the Armory] requires installing a complicated pumping system to deal with possible flooding from the old Mission Creek that runs under the structure, seismically upgrading the building with an underground supporting wall, cleaning up lead and asbestos, and removing old fuel tanks. The electrical, ventilation and plumbing need to be redone...the cost of the entire project will likely run about $45 million."

Unless there are some subsidies out there, you won't see any developer taking this project on at less than 90% market rate (which is how normal market rate buildings are approved, with 10% slated for Below Market Rate units).

Let's hope it works this time.

With Valencia Gardens construction in full-swing, that neighborhood is ready for the influx of vibrancy. I DID NOT say gentrification, just vibrancy. There have been two entire city blocks sitting vacant for a long time now, and the best thing for that location is to get some housing in there ASAP.

How many parcels are left in San Francisco where we can build this many units of housing? How many locations need attention as much as 14th & Mission? It's time to find a way to make this happen...

Sorry, Ted Gullicksen, there are no tenants being displaced this time... Just a big, empty building that needs some love... And a little help from your friends at the Board of Supervisors...