The San Francisco Tennis Club at Fifth and Brannan Streets is slated for a major downsizing, with plans to replace the club with an office complex that would include a sports club and four tennis courts. As soon as the proposal was announced, tennis club members vowed to fight back, and they are now following through with that promise. More than 200 members of the club have formed a nonprofit group called SOS STC 2.0. The group's goal is to stop the office development, and they have enlisted former mayor Art Agnos—a regular face on the anti-development scene—to their cause. The 2.0 in the organization's name refers to a previous fight to save the club from developers that was successful several years ago.
The centerpiece of the tennis club members' argument against the office proposal is a claim that the new development would take away SoMa's character and quality of life. One club member told the San Francisco Chronicle that the fight could "become a symbol of the larger fight to protect the spirit, the substance, the wonderful mosaic of the city." The club members have also said that if they aren't successful in reaching a deal with developers Alexandria Real Estate Equities and TMG Partners they will consider taking the fight to the ballot for a public vote.
· Office Complex at Site of SF Tennis Club Keeps Tennis in Play [Curbed SF]
· S.F. Tennis Club Members Form Nonprofit to Fight Demolition Bid [SF Chronicle]
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