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Supervisors back retroactive sublease to house new Children’s Advocacy Center after broad community support
Summary
After testimony from law enforcement, prosecutors and center staff, the Budget & Finance Subcommittee recommended approval of a retroactive sublease for the Children's Advocacy Center at 3450 Third Street. The committee asked departments to add a board‑policy resolve that leases should be submitted prior to effective dates.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Subcommittee on June 4 recommended approval of a retroactive sublease that will house the new Children’s Advocacy Center of San Francisco at 3450 Third Street.
John Updike, Director of Real Estate, told the committee the master lease with the San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center was first signed in September 2011 and has been amended several times. The sublease before the committee covers roughly 6,024 square feet, was made retroactive to April 1, 2014, and terminates when the master lease expires (the master lease term was reported to expire in March 2023). Updike described the monthly rent as $22,113 (with 3 percent annual increases) and said the city’s first‑year cost would be about $265,356, which includes base rent, operating costs and an amortized share of roughly $118,070 for tenant improvements. Over the approximately nine‑year sublease term the budget analyst projected HSA payments of about $2,823,304.
Real estate staff acknowledged that occupancy before formal Board execution is not recommended and that retroactive effective dates are inconsistent with Board policy. Dave Curdo, Director of Contracts for the Human Services Agency, explained HSA had operational reasons for early occupancy: the department had vacated a prior facility in December and the turnkey space was needed to begin forensic interviews in January. Curdo said staff moves and operational timing led to the department occupying the space before regulatory and transaction formalities were complete and that HSA would welcome a legislative remedy to avoid recurrence.
Katie Albright, executive director of the San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center, described the Children’s Advocacy Center as a multidisciplinary, child‑friendly site bringing together interviewers, medical staff, victim advocates and prosecutors. Albright said the center had already served dozens of children and is on track for national accreditation. Captain Joe McFadden of the Police Department’s Special Victims Unit and Linda Moore, an Assistant District Attorney and member of the center’s board, both urged the committee to approve the sublease, stressing the center’s role in reducing repeated interviews of children, improving trauma‑informed care and strengthening prosecutorial evidence gathering.
The budget analyst recommended the committee amend the resolution to add a resolve clause stating it is Board policy that leases should be submitted for approval prior to their effective date and to approve the resolution as amended. Supervisors expressed concern about setting a precedent for retroactive occupancy but concluded the programmatic benefits — including immediate service capacity for vulnerable children — outweighed the procedural lapse. The committee requested that departments provide the amended legislation to the Clerk by 9 AM the next business day and moved the item forward to the full Board without recorded objection.
Next steps: departments were asked to deliver corrected legislation reflecting the budget analyst’s technical recommendations and the Board will consider the item on its June 10 agenda.
