Plans for the Bush Street Synagogue Cultural Center hit another roadblock earlier this month when the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency granted the proposed site near Japantown to the Japanese American Religious Federation.
Architect Felix Warburg began negotiations in 1988 with the Redevelopment Agency to secure the century-old, defunct and crumbling Ohabi Shalome Synagogue at Bush and Laguna streets. An agreement was reached to purchase the historic site for $1 in 1990, but after many extensions, it was terminated four years later because Warburg was unable to raise the funds to build a 375-seat performing arts and cultural center.
The Japanese American Religious Federation put in a bid for the location, with plans to restore the building and fashion it into a 55-unit home for 62 seniors.
The Redevelopment Agency review team said the housing proposal would be easier to finance, while the cultural center would exacerbate parking problems.
But Warburg isn’t giving up.
The cost of the Bush Street Synagogue Cultural Center is slated at $5.5 million. The Japanese American Religious Federation estimates its proposed project at $7 million.
Parking is a “nonissue,” Warburg said. “The opera and the symphony don’t need to provide parking equal to number of seats.”
Meanwhile, Warburg is continuing his fund-raising efforts inside and outside the Jewish community. He also proposed a joint project between the Bush Street Synagogue Cultural Center and the Japanese American Religious Federation.
Under the proposed compromise, the cultural center would restore the sanctuary into a performing arts-lecture hall; the Japanese federation would turn the adjoining building into 34 units of housing. The Japanese American Religious Federation, however, declined Warburg’s offer.
Steve Suzuki, spokesman for the Japanese American Religious Federation, said the compromise “does not fit within our mission statement of meeting housing needs for seniors in the area.”
The Japanese American Religious Federation must issue schematic drawings to the Redevelopment Agency by Nov. 20.
Warburg anticipates that the housing plan “could not faithfully restore the historic building,” and hopes the Japanese American Religious Federation will reconsider his offer.
The city landmark, land, tax credits and Federal Emergency Management Agency funds, are available for $1 only if the building’s interior and exterior are restored and not merely rehabilitated.
“We were anticipating this” decision by the Redevelopment Agency, Warburg said. “When it became apparent the senior housing issue was so important in the community, we realized there would be a strong political push.
“We not only want to save an historic building, but we want to provide housing too. It’s not a competition. We can do both.”
But Suzuki is confident the Japanese American Religious Federation’s plans will meet restoration guidelines. In addition, “We respect that this has always been a religious building,” he said. “We’re not just developers. We want to respect the spirituality of the structure.
“So the main issue for us still is use of the sanctuary.”
Judy Eng, senior development specialist for the Redevelopment Agency, said the plan proposed by the Japanese American Religious Federation is a more appropriate use for the site. She will be “monitoring [the plan] every step of the way.
“They’re on a schedule — to provide us with evidence of a development fund, affirmative-action policies in hiring consultants and developers, and schematic drawings.”