SFJAZZ Center: San Francisco’s New Cultural Hot Spot

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7 min read

America has a sparkling new mecca for jazz performance and education: the SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco.

Sponsored by local nonprofit SFJAZZ and funded largely by federal new markets tax credits, the new $64 million building has quickly become a major attraction for jazz musicians, aficionados, and tourists since the ribbon-cutting on Martin Luther King’s Day. Situated on the border of the Hayes Valley and Civic Center neighborhoods, the three-story glass-and-concrete building also creates a bridge from the surrounding underdeveloped neighborhood to the thriving Van Ness Street corridor a few blocks away where the San Francisco symphony, opera, and ballet halls are located.

SFJAZZ describes the Center as “the first concert hall of its type in the United States: a freestanding performance venue with flexible seating and staging for artists of every stature, built specifically for jazz music and audiences alike.”

With the Center, SFJAZZ now has a “home,” says SFJAZZ Executive Operating Officer Felice Swapp. Until now, the organization, founded 30 years ago by Randall Kline, has had its offices, held jazz performances and festivals, and conducted its jazz-related educational programming for youths and adults at rented and borrowed spaces across the city. At SFJAZZ Center, now all of these functions – and more – are under one roof.

Performance, Educational Spaces

The building’s centerpiece is an acoustically perfect, 700-seat amphitheater style auditorium for live jazz performances that can be configured into smaller spaces, down to an intimate array of seats around the stage. In addition, the building has three practice rooms, a lab for digital music creation and production, and the multi-purpose Joe Henderson Lab. There are also administrative offices for SFJAZZ, a café, and ground-floor lobby, box office, and gift shop.

The Joe Henderson Lab is an 80-space room that can be used for lectures and smaller performances. It also accommodates rehearsals, including by SFJAZZ’s own High School All-Stars, an audition-only jazz orchestra/ combo made up of talented local high school students; an adult professional jazz band; and a newly formed community jazz band. Members of the All-Stars get to interact regularly with visiting professional jazz musicians, learning about their techniques and life as a professional musician. In February, the High School All-Stars traveled to New York City to participate in the Mingus High School Jazz Competition & Festival. Swapp says the new facility will enable SFJAZZ to expand its educational programming for youths and adults. One popular attraction has been its Discover Jazz program, a series of jazz appreciation lectures for adults. With the new facility, Swapp said, the series will be made richer and more interactive, combining lectures, live performances, and video clips.

New Markets Tax Credit Funding

According to Swapp, the new markets tax credit was “essential” for funding SFJAZZ Center and permitting a prompt start of construction – without a traditional construction loan – so that the facility could be completed in time for the organization’s new performance season. Four separate, California-based community development entities (CDEs) provided $40.675 million in combined new markets tax credit allocation authority for the project: the San Francisco Community Investment Fund; Clearinghouse Community Development Financial Institution; the Northern California Community Loan Fund; and the Nonprofit Finance Fund. Four separate allocations were needed because of the size of the project. The NMTC consultant to SFJAZZ, John Clawson, of Enterprise Community Builders, indicated that it was a challenge finding multiple CDEs with large amounts of uncommitted allocation authority that also could close quickly in order to meet the project’s tight construction time frame.

SFJAZZ Center is only the second new markets tax credit project funded by the San Francisco Community Investment Fund (SFCIF), created in 2009 by the City and County of San Francisco and the local redevelopment agency. Andrico Pennick, an attorney with the city who staffs the CDE, says SFCIF was attracted to the SFJAZZ Center project for several reasons.

“When SFJAZZ approached SFCIF and asked for our allocation we were happy to come on board,” he said. “The SFJAZZ Center provides not only a jazz and cultural venue in our Civic Center area, which is in need of revitalization, but we were very impressed with their community benefits and their educational program in public schools.”

Douglas Bystry, CEO of Clearinghouse CDFI, said, “SFJAZZ is more than just a music venue. This nonprofit is bringing jazz music history and education to all residents in the low-income community. We knew SFJAZZ was a special project when we realized how integrated it is with the community. Performances, education, and community events are now possible in this low-income area through SFJAZZ.”

Jay Harrison, Chief Investment Officer of Clearinghouse CDFI, says the project “simply had everything” – job creation, readiness to proceed, a solid sponsor, strong partners, and a myriad of community benefits. “When you have a project like this, with very strong community impact and viable financing behind it, that’s always a win-win,” he said.

Equity, Bridge Funding

U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation was the sole new markets tax credit investor in the project, providing about $11.2 million in tax credit equity along with $13.4 million in bridge financing. Maria Bustria-Glickman, Vice President of New Markets & Historic Tax Credit Investments at USBCDC, says USBCDC was excited to be part of the SFJAZZ Center project. “We knew SFJAZZ locally, given U.S. Bancorp Foundation’s support of the organization, and recognized them as a strong cultural institution for the city,” she said. “When we heard that they were looking for new markets financing to support their permanent home, we wanted to be supportive of that project. We also knew that a number of our CDE partners were very interested in the investment and wanted to be supportive of them in their pursuit of it.”

In addition to the tax credit equity and bridge financing from USBCDC, other funding for the SFJAZZ Center including charitable and philanthropic contributions received by SFJAZZ that the nonprofit channeled through an affiliate foundation to help capitalize the NMTC leverage loan. The nonprofit also secured a bridge facility from First Republic Bank to bridge expected future pledge payments until they are received. Sidebar

Grand Opening Concert Is a Smash

“It was an awesome night,” SFJAZZ’s Felice Swapp, referring to the red carpet, star-studded opening night gala at the SFJAZZ Center on January 23.

Emceed by Bill Cosby, the evening featured live performances from a parade of noted jazz musicians – 30 in all – who came on and off the stage, jamming in ever-changing small groups. Just a few of the standouts were pianists McCoy Tyner and Chick Corea; saxophonists Joshua Redman, Joe Lovano, Miguel Zenon, and David Sanchez; violinist Regina Carter; guitarist Bill Frisell; vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson; and drummers Jeff Ballard and Eric Harland.

And at the center of it all was Randall Kline, Founder and Executive/Artistic Director of SFJAZZ, relishing the music and the building.

Among those in attendance was Peter Bell, Publisher of Tax Credit Advisor and President & CEO of the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association. Bell was an associate producer of a live audio broadcast of the evening’s performances by New Orleans radio station WWOZ in partnership with NPR Music, and broadcast by National Public Radio affiliates across the country. NPR Music is now at work on a video program of the event for airing at a future date.

“It was a great event – killer line-up, acoustically perfect hall, and sophisticated audience,” reports Bell, “and presented a unique opportunity to tie together my activities in the tax credit world with my activities in the jazz world. If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to catch a set of music at the new Center.”
(To learn more about SFJAZZ and the SFJAZZ Center, go to http://www.sfjazz.org. An audio recording of the complete Opening Night Gala Concert may be found at: http://www.npr.org/event/music/169066093/live-from-sfjazz-center-opening)