"Chinatown building may be bought by tenants"
Emily Francher, SF Examiner
February 6, 2006
Chungyau Poon, 77, has
lived in the Fong Building on Columbus
Avenue since he
arrived in the United States from Hong Kong in 1972.
Despite the cracked walls
and bare light bulbs, he can't beat the $360-a-month rent for a two-bedroom he
shares with his family.
Poon feared eviction when
City College of San Francisco bought the building in 1998 with the intention of
demolishing it to build a new campus on the site.
But he's resting easier
these days.
San Francisco Community
Land Trust, a nonprofit, is on the verge of purchasing the building on behalf
of Poon and other tenants through an innovative approach to create permanently
affordable homeownership.
The nonprofit is working
with about 80 tenants at 53 Columbus Ave. to buy the building for $1.5 million from the college using the
community land trust model.
The model allows the
nonprofit to retain control of the land while selling the apartments to the tenants
as a cooperative. Tenants can sell their units at any time, but the resale
price is limited.
The model has never been
used before in San
Francisco, said Tom
Wetzel, president of the land trust, but interest in replicating it has grown
as housing prices have soared in recent years.
Wetzel said the group is
talking to tenants in two buildings - one in the Tenderloin and another in the
Western Addition - about the land trust model. He said pending city legislation
could help these projects.
Rick Lewis, a board member
of the land trust, said the deal has not yet closed, though the nonprofit has
signed a purchase agreement. The entire process, including construction and
conversion, will take about two years, Lewis said.
He said the nonprofit will
spend the next year raising $5.9 million - a mix of public and private money -
needed for the purchase and rehabilitation of the building.
Lewis said a $2.1 million
mortgage has been secured and a $2 million loan from The City to pay for the
seismic upgrades was approved. State grants, state tax credits and foundation
donations are also funding options.
In addition, tenants have
agreed to a 5 percent rent increase and a $5,000 down payment.
Malcolm Yeung, staff
attorney at Asian Law Caucus, which represents the tenants, said a lot of work
remains to be done to secure money and community support.
"The struggle for the
tenants is far from over," he said.
E-mail:
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
San Francisco Community Land Trust | P.O. Box 420982 | San Francisco, CA 94142 
