wfn.org | Glide partnership unveils $200 million housing development

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Sept. 6, 2002  News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.
10-31-71B{395}

By United Methodist News Service

Glide Economic Development Corp., a nonprofit corporation that includes a
United Methodist church among its partners, has announced a $200 million
housing development in San Francisco.

About 200 people attended the Sept. 3 dedication ceremony for the
development, which will provide affordable housing and mixed-use commercial
space in the Tenderloin area, an economically disadvantaged part of San
Francisco's inner city.

Ground will be broken in 2004, and work will be complete in 2007. The
corporation said it would be the largest such project in the city in at
least 10 years. 

"The Pavilion development is a milestone project for the Tenderloin and for
the city," said the Rev. Cecil Williams, chair of the corporation's board
and chief executive officer of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church. "This
project, which has been years in the planning, will serve as the engine that
generates economic independence and vitality to a neighborhood that is home
to a rich diversity of people and small businesses."

The development will include 400 units of affordable and market-rate rental
housing, as well as a Pavilion with 100,000 square feet of exhibition,
meeting and ballroom space, according to the corporation. Additional rental
space will be provided for nonprofit organizations, social services and
retail serving the neighborhood, and an underground parking garage with a
550-car capacity is planned. The development will be bordered by Eddy,
Ellis, Mason and Taylor streets.

Glide Economic Development Corp. has received a $6.85 million grant from the
city's Convention Facilities Department for pre-development expenses and
real estate acquisition, according to the corporation. It also has received
a $100,000 grant from the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund and about $200,000
from the Hilton San Francisco. Remaining funds are expected to come from a
variety of sources, such as city-sponsored bond financing and private
donations.

Mayor Willie Brown Jr. called the Pavilion project "the crown jewel of a
collection of efforts to transform the Tenderloin community for the better."

During the months ahead, negotiations will continue with property owners as
Glide seeks to secure the titles it needs for the project, the corporation
said.

The corporation brings public and private partners together in revitalizing
low-income neighborhoods. Partners include the Mayor's Office of Housing,
Hilton San Francisco, Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp., Glide
Memorial Church, Related Companies of California, Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr.
Fund, San Francisco's Convention Facilities Department, and the Parking
Authority of the City and County of San Francisco. Founded in 2000, the
development corporation has its offices at the church.

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United Methodist News Service
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