awareness of the surrounded. >> there is so month people the brunet of breaking into this career that was every for easier for me had an on the with an before he cleared the path for laugh us. >> my people he actually looking at lucid up to poem like he joe and kim and merit made they're on the streets working redondo hard their cable of doing this job and textbook took the time to bring us along. >> women have going after their goals and departments line the san francisco sheriff's department provide a lot of training tools and inspiring you to go into the department. >> they gave me any work ethics she spider me to do whatever he wanted to do and work hard at the intersection.

>> if you're going to make change you have to be part of change and becoming law enforcement i wanted to show women could do this job it is hard not easy. >> finds something our compassion about and follow roll models and the gets the necessary skeletals to get to that goal with education and sprirmz whatever gets you there. >> if this is what you want to do dream big and actually do what you desire to do and you can go vertebrae far it is a fast job i wouldn't do anything else. >> ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

>> i have been living in san francisco since 1957. i live in this area for 42 years.

my name is shirley jackson, and i am a retirement teacher for san francisco unified school district, and i work with early childhood education and after school programs. i have light upstairs and down stairs. it's been remodelled and i like it. some of my floors upstairs was there from the time i built the place, so they were very horrible and dark. but we've got lighting. the room seems lighter. they painted the place, they cemented my back yard, so i won't be worried about landscaping too much. we have central heating, and i like the new countertops they put in. up to date -- oh, and we have venetian blinds. we never had venetian blinds before, and it's just cozy for me.

it meant a lot to me because i didn't drive, and i wanted to be in the area where i can do my shopping, go to work, take the kids to school. i like the way they introduced the move-in. i went to quite a bit of the meetings. they showed us blueprints of the materials that they were going to use in here, and they gave us the opportunity to choose where we would like to stay while they was renovating. it means a lot. it's just that i've been here so long. most people that enjoyed their life would love to always retain that life and keep that lifestyle, so it was a peaceful neighborhood. the park was always peaceful,

and -- i don't know. i just loved it. i wanted to be here, and i stayed. >> we have a great program today. i know many of you are here to celebrate the opening of a building. so many more of us are here because it's an exciting day to celebrate the life of one of our good friends and colleagues, natalie gub, and a lot of us are gathered here for both, so -- [applause] >> i'm doug shoemaker, and we're lucky enough to be here with you to celebrate this fantastic day. i'm wandering over here,

wondering what to say, but i think i have it pretty much intact. in addition to the opening of a building, natalie was somebody that was near and dear to many people. you see a lot of us wearing these pins that say i worked for natalie, and i think half of the people in housing feel that way, whether you worked for the city, worked for a housing director or whether you worked directly for natalie. i know that, you know, by the time i accomplished next to nothing, natalie was already taking credit for whatever it is that i did, and whatever it is that i ever accomplished, she took double credit for. i know i'm not alone in the room when i say she deserves twice as much credit as she took, and she took a lot of credit. i'm not going to take a lot of time today, but i want to take a moment and thank mayor london

breed, who's here with you all. went to bed last night, there was a housing authority. woke up this morning and suddenly discovered that the city is stepping in in a very profound way to assist with this big problem. i don't know how many of you read the chronicle, but it's one of the reasons to make me excited to have london breed in the mayor, i think there are many places in the united states that their housing authorize runs into the same problems we had, and the city turns a blind eye. but you know that this city is not turning its back on the housing authority nor to its citizens, and it makes me proud to be a citizen and it makes me proud to have a mayor like

london breed. >> the hon. london breed: thank you, doug, and thank you, mercy housing, not just for the natalie gub comments here but for housing projects all over san francisco that serve a low-income population. and i want to thank david, natalie's husband, thank you so much for being with us. this is to commemorate another 120 100% affordable units in san francisco. with the unit right next to it, this is 190 affordable units here in the city and county of san francisco. it is such a beautiful day to cut the ribbon on the property, but also to honor a person who fought for low-income tax credits dating back to the 1980's. natalie was an incredible

advocate, and i see many of you wearing buttons. you had the opportunity to work with her on creative solutions for housing affordable not just in san francisco but throughout the state of california. we know this is not just a battle to make sure that we have affordable housing in san francisco, we need to make sure that we have affordable housing throughout the state of california and look at our dated policies that have existed since the 1960's and make changes. it's why i was so proud to lead the effort around neighborhood preference legislation, so that 40% of all new developments would go to the people who actually live in that community first to avoid displacement of the existing residents.

[applause] >> the hon. london breed: you know, projects like this making mayor wonderful, but i want to make sure we create thousands more. i don't want a city that has extremely wealthy and extremely poor, we need everyone in between to be able to afford to live in a place like san francisco, a place that i was born and raised in. and i am just so happy to be here because this is not just any commons, this is not just any apartment complex, there will be child care on-site for the families that are here, which is absolutely amazing. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: so we have more work to do, and i want to thank so many amazing people to helped to make this possible, of course, starting with mercy housing, the office of community investment and infrastructure, the mayor's office of housing and community development. i know kate hartley is here,

hope sf and wells fargo. it takes a village to create something like this, and today is a day we celebrate affordable housing in san francisco, and thank you all so much for being a part of it. [applause] >> so the mayor made brief reference to it, and i just want to follow up on one of her points. so mercy housing has the good fortune to be working with the city and the housing authority and our partner related on the redevelopment and renovation of sunnydale and visitacion valley. i want to thank ocii and the mayor's office of housing and the mayor because we were able to do something extraordinary, we were able to provide residents of sunnydale a property that has been falling apart for a while because of just lack of funds, we're rebuilding it. it's going to take sometime, but as a consequence of the fact

that we had housing opportunities here, ocii and the mayor's office stepped up and made 23 of those apartments available to the residents of sunnydale who decided they wanted to try living here in this neighborhood. [applause] >> so it's an incredibly important thing, i think something that we really wanted to see happen. it's amaze not to see something like this happen in a short period of time, but it's really an important opportunity, and i just want to say how much we appreciate it and i'm looking forward to many more opportunities for residents like that, in particular the residents of sunnydale and potrero. on that note, i want to bring up supervisor jane kim, who as many of you know, has been to as many of these ribbon cuttings that

you can imagine. i think there's been more affordable housing in her district than any in the city. but foremost ribbon cuttings in a supervisorial term, if she hasn't won it, i don't know who has. she's been a profound supporter of affordable housing if her career. she's been a great friend to mercy housing and all the work that you do, and i want to thank and welcome supervisor kim. [applause] >> supervisor kim: i think i hold the most ribbon cuttings for any housing development in the city as we build 60% of all of san francisco's housing, and i'm really proud that the majority of the affordable housing is being built in this district, the south of market, mission bay, and the tenderloin. and while that takes leadership, i also have to thank the residents of district six who

have accepted affordable housing, believed in mixed income communities and has not put up barriers to us building housing in this neighborhood. this would not be possible if not for us having such graed community leadership and organizations here. so i am a proud neighbor of mercy housing. i am surrounded by mercy housing where i live in the south of market. to the south of me, we have columbia square. to the north of me, we have two projects on howard street. to the south of me, we have del soro housing, that we just cut the ribbon on last year, and to the west, we have another. there is nothing more rewarding than seeing the real households, families and seniors that get to stay here in san francisco with

security in knowing that they are able to walk into a healthy and safe home every single night with their children and with their grandparents. and this project is exciting because it was the very first -- well, i'm sorry. it was the very first of my time on the board of supervisors when we were -- when we had started initiating the transbay redevelopment process. the first was 100% affordable housing across the street, renee casa nas -- casa nueva. 190 units of affordable housing is an extraordinary project in a single -- in a single building. and on top of that, it has really been our affordable housing developers in transbay that have been the first to

lease up their ground floor retail, so whether it's phil's coffee or our affordable child care site, it has been the retailers that has been the first to lease up to child care, and ensure that the amenities provided to all of our residents are there from day one, and so i ask the market rate developers to follow in their leadership in activating our neighborhood for all of us. [applause] >> supervisor kim: i do want to recognize the staff of ocii, our director, nadia cesae.

finally, beyond, of course, recognizing the amazing staff at mercy housing that bring our policies into actual fruition and make this a reality for our residents that get to live there, i do want to give a special thanks to natalie gub and her family. i know that her family and husband, david, are here today. i learned a little bit about this opening, as well. i did not realize that natalie was instrumental in drafting the low-income housing tax credit in 1986, and i cannot tell you how critical that has been in almost

the construction of every single affordable housing development in san francisco, and if not for natalie's tenacious implementation of this, thousands of housing units would never have been built in san francisco. i want to thank natalie, i want to thank her family for supporting her immense leadership that has benefited thousands of households throughout the country and certainly here in san francisco. i have to say, i think this is the first ribbon cutting that i've been to where a building is named after a woman. [applause] >> supervisor kim: examine it is time that we recognize women for their contribution and leadership here in our city, so thank you very much to everyone. [applause] >> i don't know if we should be proud that we're the first building that the supervisor can remember -- i know it was said

lovingly. i think it's great that we named the building after a woman, and i'm trying to rack my brain to see if this organization led my women has done the right thing on this, but if we haven't named enough buildings after women, blame jane graff. that's all i'm going to say on that topic. manage up. i don't know what to tell you. so no, this is a fabulous district. mercy housing has achieved what we have achieved so much as an organization because we are based here in san francisco. there's no chance that we would be the organization that we are today because the partnership of the city of san francisco. i think, you know, i look at all these colleagues, and i know there are days where we fight

like siblings. i think it's like siblings. i think that's the right thing, but on days like today, i think we can really feel a proud sense of joint accomplishment of all the things that we accomplish together. there is no more a mercy housing building than an ocii building than a city of san francisco building. these impossible to do on your own. it is fantastic that we have a city that tries and tries and tries to raise the bar ever higher. sometimes we raise it too high, and we have to readjust, but if you don't raise it high, you'll never get to where you need to go. i think there are few cities in the nation that could have said we have 35% of affordable neighborhoods with these types of units and these types of rents, but we are doing it. i want to thank the staff at housing and ocii, and we have another unit across.

these are 600 units of affordable and market rate, and the project across the street is going to be 700. these units are going to be 50% affordable. i think i've got my math right, and if i don't, blame jeff. i'd like to thank the supervisors. they've made these opportunities extraordinary for the developers and all the people that work with ocii, the staff and everyone else. it would not be possible but for the leadership and the staff. and i want to bring up lawanda harda to talk a little bit about the organization. >> thank you. as you can tell, all the women are on one side, and the men are on this side. thank you, natalie. it's a beautiful day in san francisco, especially at natalie gub commons. finally, a name. we used to be calling this transbay block number six and number seven, and now it is the

natalie gub commons, and it is a woman. i'm sure natalie is smiling and applauding us today from march up there, so i'm deeply honored to be able to celebrate with our city and nonprofit partners to celebrate this beautiful and much needed affordable housing complex. when the transbay development project was adopted 13 years ago, these were the types of buildings the former redevelopment agency envisioned. isn't it beautiful? i could live here. i live across from here. i'm a proud neighbor, and a b.m.r. tenant. so beautiful -- yes, so i know what it's like. so beautiful, affordable homes in the center of downtown san francisco that fit in seamlessly with the surrounding community. this is the third project by mercy housing, and -- and thank you, doug, for leading this

project. i want to congratulate natalie gub, whose family is here today, and her husband, david, for all of her hard work for bringing numerous housing projects to fruition. she will be remembered by all of us, but especially in the affordable housing community. as someone who lives in the neighborhood myself, i could actually have walked here, but i took lyft, and i didn't realize after he turned i was here, so i was one of the very early people who were here. i didn't realize where i was, i kind of got discombobulated. i was here when no one else was here, so i'm pleased to see more affordable housing in the pipeline. about 1100 units in transbay alone, so i want to commend my fellow commissioners, commissioner rosales,

commissioner singh, and commissioner scott who are here, and of course mayor london breed who used to be in the redevelopment commission. because of all of you, because of the work that the commissioners put in pro bono, we're able to achieve this project. and of course, the ocii staff led by nadia cesay, our executive director, thank you for our leadership, and of course, mercy housing, the mayor's office of housing and community development, mohcd, hope sf, the housing authority, and many others. it's been a joy to collaborate in this endeavor. so i also want to thank mayor breed, thank you for your continued leadership. supervisor jane kim, my supervisor in district six. i've lived here for 35 years. don shoemaker, the president of mercy housing.

the services provider, the south of market child care center, have you checked this out, this child care for 40 kids? it's beautiful [applause] >> i mean, look at all these things here that they provider our kids. we have -- the architect, architect santos prescott -- there you are -- well, from the company. another woman, the contractor, kayhill construction. is kayhill construction -- oh, there i see a hand -- a couple of hands. we have oh, the key staff of ocii that made this happen. thank you for all your work. [applause] >> the mohcd director, kay hartley, the hsa director barbara smith. so thank you all for being here. today is really a beautiful day

in san francisco, and thank you for joining the celebration. [applause] >> all right. i'm going to thank mayor lee, especially since she thanked half the people that i was supposed to. anyone i didn't mention, i want to thank, as well. we -- we do a lot of these ribbon cuttings, which is great. we like to do them as often as we possibly can. part of what makes it possible is to have an understanding of what it takes to get this done. so in the obscure world of housing, you heard about the tax credit, which i'm sure you talk about over dinner. at least if you're in the affordable housing world, you talk about it all the time. you can't escape it. natalie was an expert in this. she helped shape the way our industry works with these

programs, and she -- i think in addition to shaping those of us that work on this side, she shaped or banking and investment partners. no, natalie was tough, not as tough as then commissioner breed when she was on the redevelopment commission, but she was tough. and we are really lucky. we have some tremendous financing partners that we get to work with on these projects. it's a very specialized field. we get to work with a lot of these individuals in this world, and very few do it as well as wells fargo. i'm going to bring up tim mccann from our wonderful partner, wells fargo. >> thank you, thank you mercy housing, for inviting me. can i move this? thank you. i'm just going to make a few brief comments. my name's tim mccann, and i represent wells fargo.

we've invested $30 million in this project, and we're the construction lender for $35 million. i want to thank my internal partners at wells fargo. we've always worked together with mercy housing to form this partnership, and i really appreciate this opportunity not only to partner with you, but to be part of natalie gub commons which is historic in its own way. like i said, i work for wells fargo, and wells fargo believes part of our culture is investing in our communities because we believe -- we can only be as successful as the communities that we invest in. and i work for a group that's called community lending investment, and that commitment extends nationwide, and we're the largest investor in low-income housing tax credits. we invest about $2 billion a year for the past four or five years, and we're very proud of

that. we're also proud of the partners that we partner with, and i especially want to thank mercy housing, a cast of thousands, i think, and we're really proud to be partners with them, and we're proud to partner with ocii, the mayor's office of housing, london breed, everybody in san francisco that has made this project come together. we really appreciate that. and i especially want to thank natalie gub. i have kind of a story. i hope it makes sense. there's a sports analogy on here, and seeing how i'm on a basketball court, maybe it all makes sense. so i was a boy, i wanted to be a professional athlete like most boys, and i always imagined someday i would be playing with larry byrd or something like that. spoiler alert, it didn't work out. i went to work for a firm out of

college, in consulting, back in 1992 when i was in my 20's. and i worked for fnme. and every time i worked with mercy housing, they were represented by natalie gub. i thought natalie was amazing, she knew what she was doing. joel worked on those, as well. i didn't think he was quite so amazing, but that's another story. natalie worked on all these deals, and she was a dig player in the transactions. i was doing all the work but not getting any credit. so my career moved on. i went to work with wachovia, and then, they merged with wells fargo. and wells fargo asked me to go to california again, and i worked again with natalie gub. and working with natalie gub was

kind of like playing with larry byrd. here's somebody who is a big part of the industry, started the industry, was a big player in my mind, and here i was, working with her, so it was very exciting for me. i felt like i kind of matriculated to the brass ring to work with natalie gub to have her be a partner of mine, a mentor of mine. it was tli it was thrilling to come to california to work with her, and i think it's fitting that this is named natalie gub commons. thank you very much. >> i don't know if any of you are trying to figure out which celtic tim is. knicks or warriors.

people move around. what once would have been a career at the celtics, now, she would have had a lot of opportunities. thanks, tim, there are other people that aren't here, and i do want to thank the state department of housing and community development. some of you are wondering with what happens with the cap and trade dollars that we get at the state level as we've been working to try to figure out how to control carbon emissions and make the world safe for the next generation. one part of how the state invests that money is in projects like this, whereas marily said -- try a scooter next time. i hear they're wonderful. but those funds are invested in projects like this. if you live at natalie gub commons, you have the opportunity to walk just about anywhere in the city.

you can get on any forms of transit. soon, there will be high speed rail -- it's hard to visualize. that's why i'm having trouble. we're inches away from the transbay terminal, and it's that kind of investment that will enable people to live without cars or use cars on a periodic basis, and that's why the state invests so much in things like this. it's so important as you speak to elected officials that you recognize sort of where the money that we're using to build these projects goes to. when you run into your representatives or state senators, you can remind them how important is projects like this. all right. i want to transition now, we've talked a lot about the project and people have made reference to natalie. i -- i was lucky, when i came to mercy, the relationship with natalie and david was already very, very strong. it extended well beyond anything

that relates to the business or work that we do, and david and natalie have welcomed countless members of the mercy housing staff and family into their homes over the years and into the relationships that we were all able to form over the years. we had a very nice, small event with the family here about two or three weeks ago. david said some wonderful words, and he has greagreed to share a little bit more here, so i want to bring up natalie's husband, david. >> i am honored to be here today to acknowledge the legacy of natalie, and to represent our two sons, erin and ethan, and natalie's sister and brother. having natalie's name attached to a place that people call home

in this city she so loved makes a profound statement of her life's work. often when we were in san francisco together, natalie would insist that we see one or more of the many affordable housing developments she worked on and was so proud of. as map reading and a sense of direction were not really her forte, i often had to navigate the way to the housing developments that she wanted to show me. i have a sense, though, that even natalie would not have difficulty locating natalie gub commons. right here in the heart of this city, in transformation. another little known fact about natalie was her lack of interest in looking at site and building plans. she would ask clients to please just describe it in words, but if natalie were here today, she

would not need to hear words to feel honored by this very public dedication of a beautiful property that provides desperately needed housing that she worked so tirelessly to provide for more than 30 years. however, as those of you who worked with her can well imagine, she would have deeply appreciated all of the words that are being spoken here today in recognition of her life's work. natalie likes to dispense with formality. she would correct children who addressed her as ms. gub, or, god forbid, mrs. gub, advising them to ad her as natalie.

i am grateful, as i know she would have been, to have this home for many named natalie gub commons, and to be here today in acknowledgement and celebration. on behalf of all of us, thank you. the entire mercy housing team, and all the other people that are involved in this family of building such needed housing and for honoring natalie's work and life in such a thoughtful and meaningful way. [applause] >> thanks, david. well, many people thank many people, and i'm looking at my list because i want to be sure i don't forget all the people that i usually forget, but i do want to thank another folks. i think they're mentioned already, but the fab lus folks at south of market child care.

i think it's going to be a fabulous place. it's not unnoticed by all of us just how profound moving into an affordable housing development can be on the lives of future children, it's profound, and we're looking forward to the partnership with you. i want to also thank some folks that did the hard work, greg chin from california partnership, julia bennett, chris rivera, who does the construction management for us. i just want to make a minute, if you work for mercy housing, if you wouldn't mind just raising your hand, standup for a second to just be acknowledged for all of the great work that you do. [applause] >> you know, i think mercy housing is a very special place,

but i just saw someone acknowledge we're part of a broader movement and a field of people who do this work. many of the people in this room go to other ribbon cuttings just like this. we're fortunate in a we can go to work at a place that we can do so much good in the world. it's a very rewarding feeling to go to work most days. and, you know, we joke at mercy housing that we're the world's worst marketsing people. i don't really think it's a joke. we're not all that great at marketing. maybe we need to start selling something like lemonjade or something. but i think this is great

marketing. i'm personally very thrilled. my kids are a little bit like david described. they know their way around san francisco by pinpointing -- yes, dad, we know, that's the bg on ocean avenue. yes, dad -- they were forced to take the affordable housing tour with great regularity, and i'm pleased that the affordable housing, we moved it off the pink palate. today, we've moved away with that. bruce took a big step away with transbay six, much to the delight of our partners. small inside joke. in any event, we're winding down, but i do want to just take a moment, we have a moment in all of our openings that we take

a minute to hear from somebody who lives in here. adrian lived in this building and he's already made a giant step back. he seems to be a very, very active member of this neighborhood. i personally at this moment -- i don't even know what disney musical or disney show -- i went to sleep in rincon, but i woke up here in east cut. he's been a tremendous asset to the staff and to the neighborhood, and i want to bring him up now. [applause] >> hi, everybody. my name is adrian caratosa. i'm a resident of natalie gub commons. i am very lucky to be in this building. i know a lot of people have applied for this lottery.

this is my 25th lottery. six years, it took me to get in. [applause] >> i used to live in a t.m.c. building in the tenderloin for five years. they were really good to me. a little bit about me, when i was nine years old, i contracted h.i.v., and early stage of my life, i had a lot of health issues. for a long time, i did not feel like i mattered, and i definitely felt like no one would ever hire me. and when i got into this place, i actually felt for the first time in my life that i could do something for other people. so me paying it forward, letting other people know that they matter, no matter how much money or no money they make, they are equal to everyone else. for me to be living here and hopefully for the rest of my life, i want to make a difference. i'm pushing for affordable

groceries in this building or in this entire area. that's a big thing to me. [applause] >> and yeah, i'm -- a couple years ago i was someone who could not go into a room full of people, and here i am, giving a speech, winging it. i'm very fortunate to be in this building. i hope i can make a change, but more importantly, i hope i can help other people to embrace their voice, as well. so thank you so much. [applause] >> you guys see the cable tv possibilities, right? i think it is very hard for me to picture that adrian is somebody that had a hard time speaking in front of people. but really appreciate your work, and your advocacy on behalf of the neighborhood, and i'm sure the commissioners are hearing your excitement about having affordable groceries, although just to clarify, not at this

building. thank you so much for your patience. i know it was a relatively long program. it's a fantastic day here in san francisco. it's a great day to celebrate our partnership together and celebrate natalie gubb. we're going to ask your patient, once these people have cleared through, feel free to standup. there's some food on the inside in the common area, and thank you so much for coming here and joining us here today.

(music) >> herb theatre,open rehearsal. listen to the rehearsal. i think it is fun for them, they see our work process, our discussions, the decisions we make. it is good for us. we kind of behavior little bit when we have people in the audience. msk

(music) >> we are rehearsing for our most expensive tour; plus two concerts here. we are proud that the growth of the orchestra, and how it is expanded and it is being accepted. my ambition when i came on as music director here -- it was evident we needed absolutely excellent work. also evident to me that i thought everyone should know that. this was my purpose. and after we opened, which was a spectacular opening concert about five weeks after that the economy completely crashed. my plan -- and i'm absolutely dogmatic about my plans --were delayed slightly.

i would say that in this very difficult timefor the arts and everyone, especially the arts, it's phenomenal how new century has grown where many unfortunate organizations have stopped. during this period we got ourselves on national radio presence; we started touring, releasing cds, a dvd. we continue to tour. reputation grows and grows and grows and it has never stopped going forward. msk(music) >> the bay area knows the orchestra. you maybe take things for granted a little bit. that is simply not the case will go on the road. the audiences go crazy. they don't see vitality like this on stage.

we are capable of conveying joy when we play. msk(music) >> any performance that we do, that a program, that will be something on the program that you haven't heard before. string orchestra repertoire is pretty small. i used to be boxed into small repertoire. i kept constantly looking for new repertoire and commissioning new arrangements. if you look at the first of the program you have very early, young vibrant mendelson; fabulous opener and then you have this fabulous concerto written for us in the orchestra. is our gift.

msk(music) >> and then you have strauss, extraordinary piece. the most challenging of all. string orchestra work. 23 solo instrument, no violin section, now viola section; everybody is responsible for their part in this piece. the challenge is something that i felt not only that we could do , absolutely could do, but i wanted to show off. i can't tell you how aware i am of the audience. not only what i hear but their vibes, so strong. i have been doing this for a long time.

i kind of make them feel what i want them to feel. there is nobody in that audience or anywhere that is not going to know that particular song by the fourth note. and that is our encore on tour. by the way. i am proud to play it, we are from san francisco. we are going to play that piece no matter where we are. >> good morning. good morning, everyone. i'm timothy fu, chair of the board of trustees for the san

francisco skefconservatory of m. on behalf of the board, thank you all to be here for the breaking ground on the ute and william k. duboce center for being pyrri performing arts. when i joined the board many years ago, we knew the conservatory belonged with the many arts at the civic center, and we knew we must providing housing for our students. so we succeeded in moving to the civic center in 2006, and now, we're breaking ground for the

new student residence hall. so today, i'm incredibly proud of how all of us have come together to make the future possible. and i want to express my deepest thanks to the supporters of this project whose inspiring leadership and generosity have set us up for a successful second century of leading music education through innovation through a history of excellence, achievement, culture and collaboration. now i have the pleasure and the honor to introduce our mayor, the mayor of san francisco, london breed. [applause]

>> the hon. london breed: thank you, everyone. what a beautiful day to break ground on hundreds of units of housing for student artists. one the things i love to do as mayor. some of you know i used to serve as director of an organization, the african american arts and culture complex. it's not far from here, but we had incredible relationships with the arts community here where you have the symphony, the opera, sf jazz. this place has become a hub for artists everywhere, and now that the san francisco conservatory of music has decided to take it even a step further to decide to come up with this innovative plan to come up with 420 units of housing for their students, it's absolutely amazing, and we should all be proud of what this project would do for housing in the city and county of san francisco. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: thank you also equally important, the

27 residents who were once housed here were not only housed very close to this particular development as it's under construction at the same rent they were paying, they will also be moved back into this building when it's built at the same rents that they had been paying through their rent control. and here's the thing: 27 people are not being displaced as a result of this project. we are adding more units, we're not displacing anyone, and the reason this is so great for the environment, it is within walking distance of the san francisco conservatory of music. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: i can't be more proud. we have to do more to build more housing in san francisco. we have to think about the fact that this is an innovative place. people want to live here, they want to work here, they want to

grow here, they want to thrive here, but what makes san francisco incredibly -- a great place for all of us, it's the arts, it's the music, it's the entertainment. it's all of the things that people come here to enjoy, and how are we going to continue to grow if we don't have opportunities that exist for them? if we don't provide housing that they can afford? if we don't open the doors of our opportunities to our artists who we know are constantly being displaced? it's a great day for san francisco, it's a great day for the arts community, and i am so looking forward to all the work we're going to continue to do to revitalize the civic center area. yesterday, i looked out the window from my offices at city hall, i saw children playing in the park, i saw people standing in line at the birite we just

opened two days ago, i saw people doing zumba, i saw people talking to people on the street, just hanging out. it's amazing, when you're taking care of everyone, including the community, every can enjoy. this is a project that's going to benefit this area and hopefully grow and thrive and provide places like this that provide housing like this for each and every one of us. thank you all so much for being here today. [applause] >> thank you, mayor. thank you so much for your support and your commitment to the arts. we really are very honored to have you take time from your busy schedule today to be with us. and now, i have the pleasure of introducing the person who has

designed this building, marvelous facility for all of us, but the best design architect in the city of san francisco, mark cavanero. >> thank you. we've been working on this for years, to see a building coming out of the ground is every architect's dream. we talked about innovatition as we talked about this project, and i think that word is really singular for this building, and the vision that tim and dave and the board have, in that we're not just building a building, but a whole organism for arts and music. the students will be living here, performing here, and it

will offer a whole snapshot into arthur world when you're walking or driving up vanness or hayes. it's not just about education, it's about a whole san francisco community coming together in one new building. and for an architect, it can't get much more exciting. so thank you for all of this, and thank you for letting me be a part of this, dave, tim, and the board. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. i can't wait to see this coming up. now i have the pleasure to introduce my good friend and coconspirator, president of the music conservatory, david stow. >> believe we're standing here,

no really. i've worked on some projects, if you want to try and reach beyond your grasp, this project is really that. it's only because of some people that are sitting here and some people that are not here today. mayor breed and supervisor kim, i can't say enough about these two individuals. nothing goes through city hall this fast, at least in my experience. the reason this happened is there were great advocates in the city. people saw the benefit of it for the community, and it happened at an extraordinary rate. but before i talk to the building, i want to talk about some people that made this happen. some of you who may not recognize that this made this happen, jessica downs. you're out there somewhere. can you raise your hand?