Swords to Plowshares, the celebrated charity that works with homeless and low-income veterans, is being squeezed out by the upscale landlords of San Francisco’s newly renovated War Memorial Veterans Building.

That’s the thrust of a lawsuit filed by the local American Legion over the War Memorial board’s refusal to provide Swords with free office space at the landmark building across from City Hall — while carving out square footage aplenty for high-society tenants like the San Francisco Opera that have the money to pay.

The American Legion is challenging the way the board — which includes such big names as city protocol chief Charlotte Mailliard Shultz and former Presidio Trust Chair Nancy Bechtle — is interpreting a city attorney’s 2009 decree that only “patriotic organizations” are entitled to free rent at the Veterans Building.

The city’s lawyers defined those as membership-based veterans groups. Because Swords to Plowshares doesn’t require those who use their services to join as members, the trustees who run the building say, it’s not eligible for freebies.

“It’s nothing new — we we are used to being treated like second-class citizens,” said Michael Blecker, Swords to Plowshares’ executive director and a Vietnam War veteran.

‘Any rent is too much’

The people who run the Veterans Building say they’ve got nothing against Swords, but that rules are rules — and that they’ve got a responsibility to make sure the city-subsidized building brings in some rent.

Swords to Plowshares had offices in the Veterans Building at below-market rent before the building closed for a two-year renovation in 2013. The board says the group would be welcome to return under that deal, but the veterans aren’t buying it.

“Our view is any rent is too much,” said Todd Toral, the plaintiffs’ lead attorney.

The case, which will be heard Monday in San Francisco Superior Court, could have major implications for the War Memorial trustees — who also oversee the next door Opera House and Davies Symphony Hall. The board worries that if the court sides with Swords to Plowshares, many other groups affiliated with veterans — maybe even the federal Veterans Administration — will be clamoring for free space.

Swords helps an estimated 3,000 veterans in the Bay Area with housing, employment and legal aid services. It isn’t officially a party to the lawsuit — instead, the case was brought by San Francisco’s American Legion, the group legally empowered to administer the Veterans Building space on behalf of veterans groups.

The American Legion accuses the trustees of betraying their mission to help veterans. The board is intent on making money for the city and providing a “playground for the Board of Trustees’ true constituents: the San Francisco elite,” according to the lawsuit.

The fight goes all the way back to 2008 when the American Legion offered to make room in the building for Swords to Plowshares — but then came the city attorney’s finding that the charity wasn’t entitled to free rent.

Major removation

So Swords paid $1,590 a month for 2,250 square feet until the building closed for renovations in 2013. It reopened in September, but the American Legion says its space has been cut in half, and Swords hasn’t returned.

Now the San Francisco Opera is spending $21 million to renovate 12,000 square feet on the fourth floor for a pair of small theaters and is taking over additional space for offices and a costume shop. This in a building meant as tribute to the soldiers who fought and died in World War I and set aside in part for veterans organizations.

The American Legion says that historically it had a large say in which groups should get free space. With the reopening of the Veterans Building after a $154 million makeover, the War Memorial trustees have constrained that right “to the point of near-nonexistence,” the suit says.

The suit calls out many of the trustees by name. Besides Shultz and Bechtle, it takes aim at “such doyens of San Francisco society” as Paul Pelosi, husband of Nancy; Gina Moscone, widow of George; and retired TV journalist Belva Davis. Fine Arts Museums chair Dede Wilsey and fashion king Wilkes Bashford also sit on the board.

Retired Judge and former state Sen. Quentin Kopp, whose Korean War Memorial Foundation hopes to get free space at the Veterans Building, said the swells got it wrong with their interpretation of the law.

“It contradicts the purpose for which that specific building was created,” Kopp said.

But War Memorial Managing Director Elizabeth Murray said her board members “have a fiduciary responsibility” to the city — and that includes serving not only veterans, but also rent-paying arts organizations and the public.

Trying to add vibrancy

To that end, she said, they are taking what has long been an “underutilized building” — which this year is counting on $9 million in city operating funds — and transforming it to “add some vibrancy to this center and to the city.”

As for the trustees being branded elitists, Davis — whose husband is a Korean War veteran — called that bunk. She said she and her fellow board members have done everything they can to accommodate the veterans.

“I’ve spent 50 years in the community trying to be a credible person,” Davis said, “and I wouldn’t have waited until now to beat up on veterans.”

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or e-mail matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross