San Francisco Citizen

This is the scene in the Western Addition at 601 Broderick and Grove, the site of Gethsemane Baptist Church

Click to expand

The graffiti is new, you see it? It’s all, “THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD.”

Let’s take a closer look:

“The proposal is to convert the existing church into a single family residence.”

Well, that’s direct, huh, right there in black and white.

[RACIAL SUBTEXT MODE = ON] Uh, so the Western Addition is losing yet another African-American church so yet another  millionaire white family can move in, except realtors* call it the North of Panhandle Area now because it doesn’t have the baggage associated with the Western A? That’s my guess, but tell if I’m way off on this one, Gentle Reader. [RACIAL SUBTEXT MODE = OFF]

Oh, architect James Hill is all over this one at his excellent-looking Talking Buildings blog.

All the deets right here.

Via Redfin.com: “601 Broderick is a charming old church … in the heart of NOPA.  Not for the faint of heart or faithless, this property needs a revival. … make them believers. Heaven only knows what the possibilities could be!”  Receiving multiple offers on first showing, the sale closed before the For Sale sign was hammered in the ground.  Highland Ferndale Partners,  a luxury home developer purchased the church for restoration and resale.  David Papale, partner and realtor,  prefers not to disclose the sale price, but  redfin.com notes the price clearly at $1,401,000, 40% over asking, a sizable investment in the future of the community. One might speculate, since this is real estate, that the sale price is more than adequate to cover the losses the bank faced in foreclosure on their faulty loan, a profit unrealized by the church.   Mr. Papale claims, while the possibilities for the property include six  units, it will be restored as a single family  home and to its original Victorian appearance without “that horrible addition.”  

And there’s a little bit more here in the comments section of this Socketsite post, Control-F for 601.

So that’s the sitch and the graffiti artist is doing all s/he can to draw attention.

Mission accomplished.

On It Goes…

*Always in lower case