Don’t speak for a community without asking

The recent 8-3 vote by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to reject turning a valet parking lot at 469 Stevenson St. into a 495unit apartment building has been cast by some as a victory in the fight against gentrification. Many have cited the tenuous housing state of some residents in the SoMa community as justification for opposing the project. “It is important that we hear the concerns of marginalized communities who fear displacement,” Supervisor Rafael Mandelman tweeted in explaining his vote to reject the development.

As leaders of the Mid-Market Coalition, a collective of 11 resident-led and resident-serving organizations representing South of Market and the Tenderloin, we certainly agree that listening to the input of our community is essential for any project in our neighborhoods.

And yet that’s not what happened with 469 Stevenson.

Our voice was consistently minimized in the conversation about the proposed development, undermining a years-long effort by community members of SoMa and the Tenderloin to bring new benefits to our neighborhoods.

While some members of the Board of Supervisors and TODCO, the housing nonprofit that appealed the project, have tried to recast the narrative as the development not having community support, that is simply not true. Our respective organizations represent a diverse group of SoMa and Tenderloin residents, including members of the Filipino American, BIPOC and LGBTQ communities. We spent years working closely with District Six Supervisor Matt Haney, who represents area, as he actively engaged with SoMa and Tenderloin residents on this project.

Since 2018, the project’s sponsors have done substantial community outreach with the Mid-Market Coalition and others and engaged in a productive dialogue. As part of those discussions, a community benefits agreement was negotiated and signed by resident-led organizations and active community members, giving voice to the neighborhood and its priorities. These robust benefits would have included two community-dedicated spaces on the ground floor of the building at significantly reduced or free rent, over $500 million in funding for community programs, a parcel of land for future affordable housing and additional funding for: arts that recognize SoMa’s Filipino American community, local employment and a program for unhoused folx. The project would have created over 100 units of much-needed affordable housing, with apartments large enough to house families and multigenerational households.

For years, the coalition took a collaborative and inclusive approach to this project, with an open invitation to community partners, including those who supported the appeal, to participate in a dialogue with the project sponsors. TODCO, the project appellant, was invited to meet with us and the project sponsor many times and chose not to come to the table.

And that’s a shame, because this project would bring incredible benefits to our neighborhood.

The truth is that this project is not going to displace a single resident, and it will not gentrify Sixth Street, as there are robust protections for the existing buildings that safeguard them from market speculation. Most of the single-occupancy room hotels on Sixth Street between Market and Howard streets are rent-controlled and managed or owned by nonprofits. Two large affordable housing developments are within the project’s vicinity (Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation’s 1036 Mission Family Housing and Mercy Housing’s Bill Sorro Community at Sixth and Howard). Another affordable housing project by Mercy will open on Mission between Sixth and Seventh streets. What this community needs now is more resources to improve the lives of its residents.

Sixth Street has been neglected for decades. We have asked for support in revitalizing this area, yet nothing has changed. It remains one of the most dangerous areas for pedestrians in the city, and residents continue to complain about sanitation and crime. We need more community-serving spaces and programs for the people living there now, all of which can be funded through the community benefits agreement.

A resident-led and community-centered approach can create the change this neighborhood needs. And now is the time to do it.

We believe that the Board of Supervisors’ vote should amplify residents’ voices, not erase them from the public dialogue. City officials, especially those who don’t represent the district they are weighing in on, should find ways to engage with residents themselves when considering our needs. That engagement should be proactive from the start, not a last-minute blindside after years of hard work has already taken place.

We also call upon supervisors to advocate and build more affordable housing in their own districts. It should be the responsibility of all districts to build affordable housing, not just the SoMa and Tenderloin neighborhoods.

If an approved project, proposed by a San Francisco-based developer, with a substantial affordable component, a comprehensive environmental analysis, a community benefits agreement and extensive community outreach can’t get built, then what will? Lorenzo Listana is the founder of the Tenderloin Filipino-American Community Association. Freddy Martin is co-chair of SoMa Neighborhood Residents Council. Chriselle Raguro is executive director of the Filipino Community Development Corporation. Together, they co-lead the Mid-Market Coalition.