See the Work
53 Columbus Avenue
A limited equity housing co-op for Chinatown seniors
“The Fong residents wanted to stay together — they are like a village within a building.”
— Susie Wong, Chinatown CDC
Located in San Francisco’s Chinatown, the Fong Building at 53 Columbus contains 21 apartments housing 80-plus tenants, primarily elderly Chinese immigrant families. Despite the cracked walls, mold, and dry-rotted windows, the tenants are proud of their homes. When in 1998 a local college bought the building with the intention of demolishing, the tenants organized to defend their rights and fight the eviction. Eventually the college determined that “necessary seismic upgrades” would make building at the site infeasible, and began looking for a buyer. In response the tenants decided to buy the building themselves, but escalating land costs meant they would need help.
In stepped the San Francisco Community Land Trust (SFCLT). Land trusts are nonprofit, democratic, resident-control organizations that own land for use by the community, and, as in the Fong Building case, buy, rehabilitate and build affordable housing to be owned by the tenants themselves. In an agreement with the tenants, SFCLT purchased the building for $1.5 million.
The trust is retaining control of the land under the building, while selling the apartments to the tenants as a cooperative. Resident-owners will own a limited-equity stake and can sell their units, but the resale price is limited so the units can remain affordable in perpetuity. In addition to the mortgage funds, SFCLT has secured a $2 million loan from the city to pay for the seismic upgrades, as well as support from the City’s Lead Program; from a new program to support housing cooperatives; and from the Mayor’s Office of Housing. In addition, tenants have agreed to a five percent rent increase and a $5,000 down payment.
In an interesting twist, Rose Fellow Fernando Martí was among the founding board members of the SFCLT and the Fong Building is now the Land Trust’s first project. Martí, working with his partner organization Asian Neighborhood Design, is overseeing the renovation design, as well as working with SFCLT to identify sources of gap funding. Besides the basic seismic upgrade, the work will involve a new heating system, new kitchens and bathrooms, and the installation of a new lobby and limited-use lift to provide access for elderly residents. An exciting part of the design is closing off the narrow alley in front of the building as a pedestrian shared-street opening onto Columbus Avenue.
Gallery
(hover over image to zoom)
by Asian Law Caucus
Chinatown tenants at 53 Columbus celebrating their victory over eviction and demolition.
by Asian Neighborhood Design
Renovation at 53 Columbus will change its 21 apartments into a limited-equity housing cooperative and ground floor mixed-use space.
by Asian Neighborhood Design
Rendering of 53 Columbus shows new accessible lobby for Asian law Caucus.
by Asian Neighborhood Design
Shown here with the Transamerica Pyramid in the background, 53 Columbus was an attractive development target.
Project Summary
- Location:
- San Francisco, California
Chinatown - Program Scope
- 21 affordable home ownership units
- Common residential amenity room (8,152 sq ft)
- Non-profit space
- Project Status
- On-the-boards (November 2007 anticipated completion)
- Location:
- San Francisco, California
Chinatown - Project Scope
- 8,500 sq ft gross site area
- Rehabilitation
- 3 stories + basement
- 31,717 sq ft gross project area
- Program Scope
- 21 affordable home ownership units
- Common residential amenity room (8,152 sq ft)
- Non-profit space
- Residential Unit Profile
Affordable units serve extremely low income households.
8 1 BR 348-472 sq ft 11 2 BR 483-608 sq ft 1 3 BR 778-778 sq ft 1 4 BR 996-996 sq ft 21 TOTAL - Cost
1,500,000 Acquisition (land) 2,000,000 Hard (construction) 500,000 Soft (all other) 4,000,000 TOTAL - Major Funders
- Mortgage loan
- Lead Program
- ROOTS Program
- Seismic loan program
- Construction loan
- Project Status
- On-the-boards (November 2007 anticipated completion)
