Enter the Uptown Tenderloin Historic District, 18 city blocks' worth of real estate whose preservation was first proposed back in 1983, and finally approved by the state on Friday— if ratified on the federal level, the area could be added to the National Register of Historic Places within 45 days. The district runs from McAllister, to Mason, to Geary (between Taylor and Polk), and just east of Polk; 470 buildings sit within its borders, including the world's largest collection of SRO hotels, the central YMCA, the former Empire Hotel, and the Alcazar Theater. Proponents of the preservation efforts hope that the new sanctions will boost the beleaguered neighborhood's reputation both in the eyes of its residents and visitors— the 'Loin wants its piece of San Francisco's billion-dollar tourist industry. To wit, a Tenderloin Historic Tour is in the works for curious gawkers visitors. Supporters are hoping that the enormous tax breaks offered to those who conserve crumbling buildings in sanctioned historic areas will encourage owners to straighten up the 'hood— A Tenderloin Historic Museum will occupy the corner of Eddy and Levenworth, under the Cadillac Hotel (a thirty-year lease has been signed on the dotted line, while local firm Perkins & Will have donated their architectural services to the project). A new, upstanding Tenderloin: pipe dream or possibility?
· State Approves Uptown Tenderloin Historic District [Beyond Chron]
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