SPUR Urban Center takes next great step forward

SPUR’s work for the last four years came to a head this week with the issuance of California Municipal Finance Authority bonds in the amount of $6,935,000 to finance SPUR Urban Center!

With the imminent signing of the construction contract with Nibbi Brothers Contractors, work will get underway this month on the Center at our site at 654 Mission Street in the burgeoning Yerba Buena Arts district. SPUR has raised over $10 million in pledges and donations to build and equip the Center, and with this financing in place we are ready to begin construction immediately.

The bonds were issued under the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, more commonly known as “TEFRA”. In utilizing this financing vehicle, SPUR joins dozens of other San Francisco non-profits, including the Salvation Army, the California Academy of Sciences, University High School, the Waldorf School, Catholic Healthcare West, the Jewish Community Center, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, and Schools of the Sacred Heart.

The SPUR Urban Center, designed by Pfau Architecture Ltd., is a 15,000 square foot facility featuring exhibition spaces, community meeting rooms for up to 125 people, and research facilities for SPUR volunteers, staff, and the general public. “SPUR is a member-led organization” said Gabriel Metcalf, SPUR executive director, “and the Urban Center will allow many more of the community to become involved in making San Francisco a better place to live and work. It will be an inviting and open presence that is as transparent as we believe public policy making should be.”

For more information on the SPUR Urban Center including floor plans and renderings, follow the links to the “SPUR Campaign for the Urban Center” on our website at www.spur.org.