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Concerned
that the building was about to be sold, the tenants of
the Redstone Building came together in September 1999
to organize to save the Redstone/Labor Temple. This was
the period of the short-lived economic boom in San Francisco's
Mission district when many buildings were being sold to
dotcoms and tenants evicted or rents drastically increased.
The
tenants of the Redstone quickly formed the RTA - Redstone
Tenants Association - whose immediate goal was to preserve
the building for its non-profits, artists, and other
low income tenants. With years of collective experience
as organizers, social and political activists and non-profit
administrators, the tenants were able to both organize
internally and gain support from the community which
resulted in saving their building from an immediate
sale
Artists
designed and hung "Save the Redstone" posters
throughout the building, an attention-getting fundraiser
was planned for Xmas 1999, publicity was generated,
small grants obtained to hire an organizer, and support
from City supervisors was gained, particularly that
of Sup. Chris Daly whose campaign was run out of the
Redstone and Sup. Matt Gonzalez. With all this attention,
prospective buyers were discouraged from making offers
on the Redstone during the peak boom period of 1999
to 2001.
In
the meantime, the importance of the Redstone building
to the community attracted the interest of the Mission
Economic Development Association (MEDA) who secured
a grant from the Mayor's Office of Community Development
to do a study on the feasibility of the tenants purchasing
and preserving the building as a home for community
groups, arts organizations and local-serving businesses.
In May of 2001 the Financial Feasibility Study was completed
by consultant Nancy Conover and MEDA and the RTA was
told that such a project was feasible under certain
conditions, including a fair asking price by the owner,
slight rent increases for tenants, and the ability to
obtain loans and grants in partnership with experienced
non-profit property developers. Although the RTA was
able to attract the interest of two potential non-profit
partners, the asking price for the building has been
set too high by the owner to make the purchase feasible
at this time.
The
RTA is currently focused on obtaining its non-profit,
tax-exempt status, making the Redstone Building/Labor
Temple a local historic landmark, and continuing to
generate a presence in the community and interest in
preserving the building through our website, T-shirts,
tabling at community events and "star-studded"
benefits.
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