A long-vacant former furniture store on the corner of 18th and Mission streets has been acquired by a local nonprofit that aims to build affordable housing and space for two neighborhood organizations.

Mission Economic Development Agency bought the 9,673-square-foot lot at 2205 Mission St. for about $5.875 million, said Christopher Gil, MEDA senior content marketing manager.

The 18,345-square-foot building has been vacant for more than a decade, despite proposals to renovate it for a variety of uses, including a grocery store, a vegan brewpub, and most recently, a dialysis center, according to SF Planning documents.

“The property was off market until last summer,” Gil said. “We focused more aggressively on the property when it came on market.”



2205 Mission went on the market in the summer. | Photo: Google

MEDA used a combination of debt and equity to buy the space, using funding from the Low Income Investment Fund and support from members of MEDA's Neighbor to Neighbor Fund, Gil said.

Neighbor to Neighbor is a group of local residents “committed to ensuring the Mission remain a neighborhood of opportunity and supporting retention of our community-serving organizations, including arts and cultural anchors,” he added.

MEDA’s plans for the new building are still in the early stages, Gil said, so the group is hesitant to talk about potential project costs or development specifics.

It plans to review initial concepts for the site with community members in early 2018, ahead of submitting its formal planning applications, he added.

The current aim is to house two nonprofits in the two bottom floors of the building. MEDA will work with Dance Mission, which is at risk of losing its current location, and Mission Neighborhood Center, which has a lengthy wait list for its early childhood program, to develop spaces.

The condos that will be developed will provide homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income households that have been struggling to stay in the city.

“Bringing together three uses under one roof will be a challenge, and we are leveraging our ongoing relationship with both groups and experience in homeownership coaching to ensure the project will be a success,” Gil said.

Holidays on Mission Miracle Mile in 1949. | Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library

The current structure was constructed in 1911, in the heart of the Mission Miracle Mile shopping district that stretched along Mission between 16th and Army streets in the 1940s and 1950s.

MEDA's goal is to develop 2,000 apartments and 200,000 square feet of retail space by 2020 for businesses and households currently at risk of losing their space in the neighborhood.