Facing higher rent and construction delays, Mission venue seeks help
March 27, 2015
Mission gallery and all-ages music venue Sub-Mission is on the cusp of signing a new lease with its landlord but is asking for help from the public to make it happen.
Unexpected delays in the approval process to bring 2183 Mission St. up to code have left Sub-Mission’s planned closure for construction up in the air and made it difficult to schedule events that keep money coming in. Last week, the venue launched a GoFundMe campaign in hopes of staying afloat.
Txutxo Perez, one of the owners of the gallery and performance space between 17th and 18th streets, said the landlord has agreed to a new 5-year lease with the condition that they first make the necessary upgrades themselves. Perez said he hoped to have started construction this month but now he doesn’t know when it will happen.
As of April 15, Sub-Mission’s rent will also go up by $3,000. The goal of the fundraising campaign is to raise enough money to help Sub-Mission get through at least until the end of April. But Perez said the situation will be dire if the project is at a standstill when May rolls around.
“After that, if the city doesn’t move, I think we’re going to done for sure,” he said.
According to city records, Sub-Mission first filed for a permit in September. Perez said the initial application was to clear up an old code violation. Then, they learned they needed to install a new emergency exit route with doors from the gallery and the adjacent restaurant.
After conversations with the city, their architect told them they also needed to lengthen the exit route, make the stage smaller and put in sprinklers, as well as add a wheelchair lift to an upstairs area of the building that’s not open to the public, he said.
“Every time [the architect] goes to the city something happens.”
Perez recently learned the planner assigned to their project is going on leave. Communication with his architect has also been challenging, he said.
As of Friday afternoon, a spokeswoman for the city’s planning department was unable to confirm the status of the project.
When and if construction begins, Sub-Mission will have to close and there will be no income coming in and higher rent to cover. Because he expected the work to be underway by now, Perez said he was unable to make long- term commitments for shows this month and has been getting by with less lucrative last-minute bookings.
“I had a couple of really good shows,” he said. “They had to move somewhere else.”