work and something you can trust. >> together, city and community-based teams work daily to connect people to services, >> welcome to our city's newest park, the park at 5m. welcome to our city's newest hub of creativity, commerce, and community. welcome, everyone, to 5m. [applause] >> this is an exciting day that has been more than a decade in the making, but it's just the start of great things to come for the people who live, work, and spend time here at 5m.

when we broke ground, we were surrounded by four acres of mostly parking lots. today, brookfield properties is proud to announce the completion of its development commitment. the first is the parks at 5m. about the size of five basketball courts, this is the city's largest privately owned open space. it has been wonderful to see just the immediate reaction that we've had to this open space from the neighbors that have come in today. this stage directly connects to the dempster building. children from all ages will be able to play in our play area, which is right behind the camline building, and our lawn areas, as well. dog owners used to walk their dogs here in the parking lot

because there were so few places to go. now, they can chase their tails in an area made just for them. this here is 415 natoma. it is a 25-story office building designed by k.t.f. 5m opens into a courtyard of terrace spaces. to my left, right here, is the george apartment building, with 302 rental units, which is now leasing. it includes 98 middle-income units, including housing units

for seniors and formerly homeless individuals. finally, the two historic buildings were also renovated: the camline building that is earmarked for retail and nonprofit uses, and the dempster building. new tenants, programming, and residents will bring energy to the site. beginning this spring, community programming for the parks at 5m will feature a mix of events, performances, art, and food curated by brookfield properties. our long-standing community members will be on this property. off the grid will return with popular weekday lunch markets. cast will take its programming outside of the walls through that door and host a series of

arts and cultural programming featuring its tenants and partners. we are incredibly proud to have worked with so many individuals and organizations to help create this transformation. this is a testament to our sponsors and collaborators, and we are very, very happy to have completed this project without a delay through the pandemic, and it's a great testament to the tenacity of our team that we were able to do that. residents are moving into the george. we have some residents right now. the dempcenter is now home to push dance company and women's audio commission, and soon, we'll be home to restauranteurs, nonprofits, and

community. i'd also like to thank ann topier, judson true, former supervisor jane kim, and laura cressemata, and the architects for their incredible design of 415 natoma, among others. and of course, i'd like to thank our incredible team, current and past. a special thank you to mayor breed for your support of 5m, your leadership and relentless efforts to create more housing for all income levels in the

city. we appreciate your efforts to help all people of ages, background, and income in the city. please welcome mayor london breed. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: hello, everyone. i am so happy to be here, to see the almost completion of this beautiful project, 5m, which has been going on, jack told me, for 14 years, and we just broke ground in 2019, and here we are, just a few years later, and look at the magic that can be created as a result of us coming together to push projects like this in san francisco. i can't even believe it. i was here for the topping off ceremony of the george. not the george in washington, d.c., the george in san francisco, and when i think about what this project means

to this community, the fact that we have this open space, this building that supports artists, and artists performing here, the community, the people, this project and what it will do for this community will be something that we can all be proud of. we've worked really hard to ensure that this project, we worked hard to make sure that we implemented neighborhood preference. now, when i was on the board of supervisors, we got neighborhood preference passed. it's been very challenging to implement because of other state and federal laws, but we got it done, and as a result of our work, 40% of the affordable units built in this project will go to people who live here first. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: and before neighborhood preference,

that was not happening, and the community was asked to support projects like this, and they fought for projects like this, and now, they're a part of projects like this. and i see rudy walking through the crowd from united playas, like they're coming to do something on the stage. they put in a lot of blood, sweat, and tears in this project, facing opposition to this community, and united playas fought to make sure this happened. and none of us could have thought that the pandemic would set us back, but the 1200

people who helped to make this project possible, their jobs continued as a result of our work, and they got this project done. just imagine if we didn't do that. just imagine the number of people who would not have housing because we delayed it due to the pandemic. we knew that we could build housing safely, and that's exactly what we did. and now, as a result of waiting five years, this project, after breaking ground in 2019, is done. what year is this? i keep forgetting, because i don't count 2020 anymore. i stip that year, but the work that we're continuing to do and to revitalize this downtown

corridor, we are trying to make this feel like a neighborhood, that there's a dog run and there's open space, and there's family that can interact with our senior. there's so much amazing things that is happening in san francisco, and this is a testament to what happens when we work together with the private sector, with nonprofits, with the board of supervisors, with my office. anything is possible, and my commitment to eliminate bureaucracy is someone that i will continue to push for so that bureaucracies do not stop projects like this. people are counting on us to

make it easier to do business in san francisco. to cass, to united playas, and i know that rudy is going to work hard to make sure that filipino seniors are going to get in this housing. they said mayor, don't forget about us. when we get through down the street with that housing, we are going to make sure that they are up there. last but not least, before i leave, i want to take a moment

to really recognize someone who has been in the news world for over 30 years. i remember watching him on ktvu when i was a kid. today is rob ross' last day on ktvu, and we just want to let you know how much we appreciate you, your objective reporting, your commitment to san francisco, sending your kids through the public school system, your love for the city, but also, your ability to bring the news to us in a way that we would understand and sometimes be concerned, but more importantly, be excited and feeling good about san francisco, so we appreciate your reporting. we wish you a wonderful retirement. thank you so much, rob, for your work in san francisco. and with that, thank you so much all for being here, and i think i want to turn it over to -- i'll turn it back --

okay. supervisor haney? i'll introduce supervisor haney. so supervisor haney and i have been working around the clock, sometimes fighting with each other, but more importantly, making sure when the time comes to do the important work, that we are aligned, that we work together, because we know that people are counting on us to deliver for them. so i really enjoyed working with them on this project, but a number of housing in his district. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the supervisor for district 6, matt haney. [applause] >> supervisor haney: all right. it's on. well, first of all, welcome, everyone. this is a beautiful day to open

what is an incredible beautiful space, and i want to thank mayor breed and her team. she has been working so hard to get more housing built in our city. she has a piece of legislation called cars to houses, which turns areas like what used to be a parking lot, like what we have here, into housing, and seeing this transformed into a beautiful form of housing, this is what can happen when we listen to the community. thank you, brookfield, for the way that you've gone about this. we are here in the middle of the filipino cultural district, for a long time, the home of

filipinos here in our city, and to be able to sit here and say that the filipino community, united playas, were a part of this since the beginning and helped to shape it is a huge testament to what is possible in our city. contrary to what people may say, san franciscans want more housing. they want more housing. they just want to make sure it's housing they can access. they want to make sure it's housing that includes community and open space. they want to make sure when we build housing, that we do it with them and for them, and that's what we've done in this project. this is a very happy day in our city when we're building more housing. it's an even happier day for our city when we're building more housing, and for the south of market neighborhood, you deserve to have more housing in your communities, but you

deserve to have open space, you deserve to have places for young people to come and grow, and know this is a place that they can live here and thrive here for many years to come. i don't see her here, but i want to thank my predecessor, jane kim, for her leadership. she really stormed this through the process, and i get to be here to espouse what it would mean for our future, so thank you to everyone who was a part of that, to our city departments, rudy's here, to all of the architects, the funders, to the hearst corporation, thank you. the future of this neighborhood will be bright, and this will be an important central part of what makes it so. thank you.

>> thank you so much. i'm jocelyn, community engager for brookfield properties, and i grew up just a block away from 5m. 5m was created from a decade of partnerships with the community and the city, including organizations that truly make a difference in soma, and those partnerships made this project possible. those partnerships made 5m better. they are relationships steeped in the history of this neighborhood, especially the filipino community, and because of community participate, we learned what was important to the neighborhood. it's why there's a playground right around the corner, adorned with screens inspired

by filipino textile patterns. it's why we provided support for the filipino cultural heritage district. neighborhood incubators, senior housing, women's programs, and youth in arts and cultural programs. 5ms community d.n.a. was created by groups like united playas and cass, and for those members of the open space advisory board, which was created to ensure that we rely on community input, thank you. we built a park that made sense for the neighborhood now and in the future. this is a special day. these relationships will continue to help us provide programming for the parks and ideas moving forward. thank you to our partners for your passion, commitment, and

per severance, and your continued partnership. one of our great partners, cass, the community arts stabilization trust, and you see the building right behind me, they are housed right there, each day, they make it possible for more arts and artists, creative entrepreneurs, and arts and cultural organizations to continue to inspire us here in the city and the bay area. their inspiration of arts and culture in the dempster building is critical to the development of arts in the building. so please welcome their executive director. [applause] >> i have to put on these sexy

reading glasses. thank you, jocelyn. as she said in her introduction, her very kind introduction, i'm the executive director of community arts stabilization trust, otherwise known as c.a.s.t. i want to thank the mayor, supervisor haney, brookfield properties, and the entire neighborhood for your support. c.a.s.t. is a living laboratory that creates permanent, i said permanent, affordable space for artists, creative entrepreneurs, and arts and culture organizations in one of the most expensive regions to live and work in the u.s. we use financing and structural models to make and steward

space to secure opportunities for the future and the present. we believe, as i think do you, arts and culture play a role in preserving the fabric of a neighborhood. arts and culture such as women's audio mission, w.a.m., push dance, who you just saw open the ceremonies, have a new home right behind you in the dempster building. they are pushing the boundaries of creativity and equity while also creating community cohesion. c.a.s.t. wants to make sure that artists have an opportunity to grow in the community. now you may be thinking, what additional new programs are happening, so let me give you a

little preview. among the prospective developments this year are a community mural for the building's exterior and a chance for the arts and culture neighborhood to create a new name that captures the resilience and energy of the region. we want to thank hewlett, foundation for the arts, start small, mobile coin foundation. it is this day that reinforces all of our commitment to the

arts, to bolster our commitment to this area, the bay area. thank you. [applause] >> and now, another community partner that we have. i'd like to introduce rudy corpus, jr., a long time leader for youth advocacy and has been a resident of soma, whose whole family has been here for decades. an organization that is rooted into ensuring safe places for youth and young children to shine. >> we here, y'all. first of all, i would like to say thank you to 5m, brookfield, the hearst family, london breed. you know, i'm from the city just like you from the city. i'm born and raised in this neighborhood, so when they

asked us to come, we walked here. and when we're done, we going to walk back because guess what? we belong here. this is our neighborhood, this is our community. our motto is it takes the hood to save the hood. what does that mean? that means all of us collectively, the mayor, the homeless people, the drug dealers, everyone in this community makes collectively this neighborhood happen. now, one important thing that i want to say is the mayor -- the late mayor, ed lee, who was a big -- who made a big impact in this process of happening, may he rest in peace. he was there and fought, and if

there's one thing we like, you know that, london, we like to fight. one thing that i understand and i know about community building with one another, that we can only be stronger when we work together, so when you see all of us as part of coming together, these are the things that happen. this right here was a parking lot that was dilapidated. it had rats, it had homelessness, it had nothing up in here. so for the project to be built and be full of people that you see in front of you now is a win-win situation, so i want to see this lastly. what made this project happen was the tremendous women that made this happen. this is women's month, right? march 1. like misha, like carla, like jocelyn, like jane kim.

there's so many women -- like alexa, who used to work for 5m. there's so many women who helped make this happen, that you should see the strength of the women that helped make this right here? we're here, and we're going to continue to be here. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, rudy, and thank you to all of our speakers. we're looking forward to seeing all of you on thursday, march 3, at 4:00, for our larger grand opening celebration event. i'd like to call my fellow speakers up to the stage in order for our ceremonial ribbon cutting photo. if i could have my colleague jocelyn step up to the stage, and then moi and rudy.

supervisor matt haney, as soon as he's done with the photo, and then, mayor london breed, as well.

>> my son and i was living in my car. we was in and out of shelters in san francisco for almost about 3.5 years. i would take my son to school. we would use a public rest room just for him to brush his teeth and do a quick little wipe-off so it seemed he could take a shower every day. it was a very stressful time that i wish for no one. my name is mario, and i have lived in san francisco for almost 42 years. born here in hayes valley. i applied for the san francisco affordable housing lottery three times.

my son and i were having to have a great -- happened to have a great lottery number because of the neighborhood preference. i moved into my home in 2014. the neighborhood preference goal was what really allowed me to stay in san francisco. my favorite thing is the view. on a clear day, i'm able to see city hall, and on a really clear day, i can see salesforce tower. we just have a wonderful neighborhood that we enjoy living in. being back in the neighborhood that i grew up in, it's a wonderful, wonderful experience. now, we can hopefully reach our goals, not only single mothers, but single fathers, as well, who are living that. live your dream, live your

life, well, happy women's history month to you all. i'm kimberly ellis. i'm the director for the san francisco department on the status of women. and i have the incredible honor of not just working for a department that's dedicated to women, girls, and nonbinary, but a city and county that's committed to uplifting women, girls, and nonbinary.