200 Leavenworth St. — Site of Planned Tenderloin Economic Village
A corner of the Tenderloin once synonymous with illegal gambling machines, stolen goods and loaded handguns is now in the hands of the neighborhood’s own community benefits district. The Tenderloin Community Benefits District has purchased 200 Leavenworth St., a 10,000-square-foot property at Turk and Leavenworth streets, after what its executive director describes as more than a decade of work to reclaim the corner.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the building sale is expected to close Friday, and the nonprofit raised $12 million to make the purchase. Executive Director Kate Robinson has worked to reclaim the corner of Turk and Leavenworth streets for more than 10 years, the Chronicle reports, and she said the organization lost everything in a fire and a flood that previously displaced it from its offices.
A History of Raids and Lawsuits
The ground-floor space at 200 Leavenworth St. previously housed Barah Market, Azaal Market and TL Market & Deli, according to the Chronicle’s reporting. Undercover investigations dating back to 2011 found that the businesses there served as centers for illegal narcotics sales and as fences for stolen goods, and raids at the address later uncovered drugs, illegal gambling machines, loaded handguns and piles of cash…