Historic Preservation Fund Committee Grants

In partnership with the City Planning Department and the Historic Preservation Fund Committee (HPFC), OEWD provides small grants to non-profits organizations tasked with preserving historic buildings and districts in San Francisco. Examples of funded projects include the preparation of historic context statements for the City’s Mission Dolores and Parkside neighborhoods and the completion of a National Register nomination for the City’s Tenderloin neighborhood.

The Historic Preservation Fund Committee was created to disburse funds ($2.5 million) accruing from a settlement agreement signed by the Redevelopment Agency of the City and County of San Francisco, a public body corporation, San Franciscans Upholding the Downtown Plan, an unincorporated association and San Franciscans for Preservation Planning, a California political action committee. In February, 2005, a civil action was filed in San Francisco Superior Court, alleging that certain actions taken by the developer of the old Emporium site on Market Street contravened the Final Environmental Impact Report issued by the City and violated the California Environmental Quality Act.

As a result of negotiations between the parties, the law suit was settled with the developer agreeing to provide $2.5 million to the City to be "used solely for historic preservation purposes, including but not limited to: education, feasibility studies, consultant services grants, monitoring of this Agreement, research and documentation for CEQA evaluations, nominations of properties to state or federal historic registers, architectural surveys sponsored by neighborhood organizations that would further preservation planning in San Francisco, legislative and administrative actions to implement such surveys, and other preservation advocacy oriented purposes in the City and County."

Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, the Historic Preservation Fund is under the care of the Mayor's Office of Economic and Workforce Development. The Agreement also calls for the creation of the Historic Preservation Fund Committee, composed of seven members to make recommendations regarding disbursement of the funds. The Mayor, the President of the Board of Supervisors, the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board, San Franciscans for Preservation Planning, San Francisco Architectural Heritage and San Francisco Beautiful shall each be entitled to appoint one member of the committee.

NEWS & EVENTS

Notice of Funding Availability - NOFA (PDF) Revised as of September 26, 2011

WHY AND HOW TO APPLY

The funds shall be used solely for the historic preservation purposes, including:

• Feasibility studies: architectural, structural, economic and planning

• Research and documentation including the review of historic preservation determinations contained in CEQA evaluations 

• Nominations of properties to local, state and federal historic registers

• Historic context statements such as those related to potential historic districts and architectural surveys
  

• Historic preservation education programs

• Other preservation-oriented purposes

The funds should be utilized for a project that provides a public benefit and cannot be issued for a private purpose. 

HPFC Members