Residents urge preservation of McCroskey Building as state law raises demolition concerns

Members of the public urged the Historic Preservation Commission on May 15 to act to save the McCroskey Building at 1687 Market Street and to press state legislators for changes to Assembly Bill 2011.

Richard Carrillo, a city employee speaking as a resident, told commissioners the McCroskey is a designated historic building within the Market Street masonry landmark district and that "It is proposed to be demolished, and I'm hopeful that we can save this building." He said the demolition proposal stems from Assembly Bill 2011 and warned that the measure could allow demolition of designated and non-designated historic resources when privately funded 100% affordable housing projects are proposed.

Woody Labonte, president and CEO of San Francisco Heritage, reiterated the concern and said that while a 100% affordable housing project is laudable, AB 2011 has had the unintended consequence of enabling demolition of historic resources in cases where privately financed developments choose demolition over adaptive reuse. "Less than 4 months after the bill came into effect, that exact scenario of private money coming in to destroy a historic resource has come up and it won't be the last," Labonte said.

Other speakers, including Jonathan Pritikin, urged adaptive reuse rather than demolition and suggested alternate sites for artist housing. Commenters emphasized the district context (one of eight buildings in the Market Street masonry landmark district) and asked the Commission to use its authority under local processes to protect character-defining buildings where possible.

The Commission took these public comments under advisement; no formal action on a demolition permit or project was on today’s agenda.