Music In The Mission

SUB-Mission Is In Trouble, May Close Within A Month

The much loved small Mission District venue SUB-Mission in is danger of closing by the end of the month. According to SF Weekly:

The SUB-Mission gallery, a performance art space that has existed in the Mission District for almost 20 years, may be closing down within a month. Hefty building code violation fines, the cost to renovate and retrofit the space, and a rent increase of $3,000 a month has the venue — one of the last all-ages venues in the city for smaller bands to play — on its last legs. […]

The city estimates the budget for all the renovations and retrofitting shouldn’t be any more than $360,000. Finally, it wants $15,000 for the proper permits.

“It’s a legal way to kill you,” [SUB-Mission owner and co-founder Txutxo Perez] said of the slow process of getting approval to start the renovations. “They just give you the runaround [until you run out of money],” he said.

Perez has not given up, however, and has launched a GoFundMe campaign which lays out the venue’s predicament in more detail:

The thing is, with the above listed [city permitting] problems, we cant make rent without being open, and we can’t be open to make rent because of the building permits, and cost associated with.
We are really stuck in a catch 22 situation, but the main thing for us is to make rent, so we don’t lose our space, which has done so much, for so many people through out the almost 20 years we have been existing in the Mission District. Any and everything will help us stay a float.

[Photo: Abeer Hoque]

Comments (10)

$360K in city mandated improvements? WTF?! The only type of business that can afford those requirements is another high-end restaurant.

ughhh, it seems no one wants this to happen except the city. if the building is unsafe and needs some expensive renovations, the landlord doesn’t really have much choice to increase rent. where does the 360k come from?? or the 15k to process some permits?

“We got hit from the city for building permits they claim we never applied for, they are trying to fine us a huge amount if we do not comply.”

Um, you either had a building permit or you didn’t.  Sounds like you didn’t.

Gentrification NOW!

There is a show there this Sat night - all ages, punk rock bands. Show some support by actually entering the place and buying a beer.

Interesting. I’m not sure if this is a second go fund me campaign or an edit of the first that I’d read about a month ago. The campaign has deleted all previous mention of the business partner who was leaving and they had to buy out, along with a bunch of other woe-is-me reasons they needed donation - all of which boiled down to poor business management. While I support and fund small businesses facing unexpected (or more aptly, unexpected to reasonable business operaters) expenses, I don’t think SubMission is facing this as much as poor management and foresight…Let’s see if they manage to raise these funds AND stay in business another year.

All of this is not to say that their intentions are not good, I’m sure they are. But the road to hell…

Jack, I don’t know where to find old or edited campaigns - might be informative if UA was able to find past iterations of this plea!

I think the fabric store is having a going out of business sale.

Those that need to know, know.

The end is near.   Yesterday, the restaurant stove, and other valuable kitchen equipment was being loaded on a truck.   This morning, boxes are being packed into a U-Haul.   looks like its a wrap.   So many changes.