Private buyer, nonprofit spar over building
Earlier this year, a city program that provides loans to qualified nonprofits to help them buy properties where tenants are at risk of displacement prevented the eviction of two dozen people in the Mission District.
But the initiative, called Small Sites Program, is on the verge of falling short in regard to supporting efforts to bring an 18-unit building near Alamo Square Park into the hands of a local nonprofit, the Fillmore districtbased New Community Leadership Foundation.
The building at 800 Divisadero St. was listed for sale in recent months and is a “perfect candidate” for the acquisition program because it houses mostly low-income Eritrean immigrant tenants and the near half-centuryold Eddie’s Cafe on its ground floor, according to members of NCLF and the area’s supervisor, Dean Preston. But they aren’t the only ones eyeing the property, and a reported lack of available money for the program could kill their effort to preserve it as affordable housing — and keep it out of the hands of a buyer whom they’ve described as “problematic.”
A private buyer is already under contract to acquire 800 Divisadero and is expected to close the deal on Tuesday, according to a broker involved in the transaction. Under the city’s Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, or COPA, a law that was passed in 2019, nonprofits have the right to make a first offer on multifamily properties like 800 Divisadero that are being marketed for sale.
The broker declined to disclose the identity of the buyer, as the deal is still pending, but Preston said that his office has learned who it is and is “alarmed.” According to Preston, the buyer has been identified as SF Hotel 447 LP, a company that public records show is registered to Richard Earl Singer.
More than a decade ago, Singer was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay a $60,000 fine after admitting to soliciting others to burn a residential hotel he owned in Oakland,
called the Hotel Menlo.
Documents obtained by the Chronicle pertaining to 800 Divisadero’s sale list both SF Hotel 447 LP and Singer as the buyer.
The Chronicle called a phone number associated with Singer and made contact with a man who described himself as a representative of Singer’s — the representative did not deny or confirm efforts to acquire 800 Divisadero when contacted on Tuesday.
Singer did not return multiple requests for comment.
Singer still appears to be in business as a landlord. Public records show that Singer’s company, SF Hotel 447, still owns the Hotel Des Arts at 447 Bush St. as well as a 15-unit apartment building at 317 Hyde St.
“If you look at all the complaints on those properties, it’s no heat, no gas — it’s a multitude of things. There is a potential risk of that happening with 800 Divisadero, if he gets a hold of that building,” said Mary Rivers, a member of NCLF, referring to the properties owned by Singer in San Francisco.
According to the Department
of Building Inspection’s website, all complaints recorded at the properties in recent years have been addressed.
But Rivers said that she is concerned about the tenants at 800 Divisadero and the building’s future ownership because the property is already “struggling” with mold, burst piping and is in need of a seismic retrofit.
“They (the tenants) should not
have to live like this in this city,” Rivers said.
Per COPA, nonprofits like NCLF have five days to notify a seller that they are interested in making an offer, followed by a 25day period to submit an actual offer. If they get rejected by the seller, they then obtain a right of first refusal to purchase the property by matching the terms and conditions of a subsequent thirdparty
sale, and are granted five days to do so.
According to NCLF, the building hit the market for $2.9 million, and the nonprofit’s offer was rejected. The building is now under contract for $2.7 million.
“The city expressed interest and we gave them a shot at it but they couldn’t come up with the money for it,” said the broker involved in the deal, who added that the private buyer asked for a credit, triggering a new five-day period for NCLF to match the lower price.
That period expires at midnight on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, or MOHCD, confirmed that the department has been “approached by a potential nonprofit buyer for support to purchase the property.”
“We’re also aware that another offer has been made on the property,” the spokesperson said. “Our office is working with our nonprofit partners to review feasibility of the project and status of available funding, while taking into consideration other prospective projects currently in the queue as the Small Sites program is first come first served.”
According to MOHCD, much of the funding for the Small Sites Program has already been committed or spent — there’s just $2 million available, the spokesperson said.
Majeid Crawford, a member of NCLF said that MOHCD is “working really hard” to support the nonprofit in its bid for the building, which as of Wednesday was continuing.
But Preston challenged the notion that the Small Sites Program doesn’t have sufficient funding to help NCLF close the deal.
“The city could send a clear message that this (property) is a priority for future revenue,” said Preston. “There are multiple ways they can do it, with cash now, or with a commitment that it is the priority for acquisition through future bonds or a bridge loan.”