San Francisco Southeast Asia Development Center acquires new property to build new community building

The Southeast Asian Development Center (SEADC) recently made headlines by officially acquiring properties located at 679 to 683 McAllister Street. This new site will serve as a connection and community center, dedicated to providing cultural services for youth, families, immigrants, and refugee communities. These services include language mental health support, employment training, housing consultations, and community safety resources.

In a competitive bidding process, the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) secured a $5 million grant from the San Francisco Asian Pacific Islander Nonprofit Acquisition Fund to support the overall property acquisition, which totaled $5.3 million. Additionally, State Senator Scott Wiener and Speaker Nancy Pelosi helped secure an extra $3.5 million from state and federal funds to cover essential renovation work, such as upgrading bathrooms to meet ADA accessibility standards, creating safe entry and exit points, personal consultation rooms, and multifunctional spaces.

Originally founded in 1977 by a group of Vietnamese refugees, SEADC was known as the Vietnamese Youth Development Center. It aimed to address the lack of services for unaccompanied Vietnamese youth refugees in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco. Today, over 80% of its clients face language barriers and come from immigrant and former refugee backgrounds.

The new community center on McAllister Street, situated between Gough and Franklin Streets, spans 9,662 square feet and consists of two previously vacant buildings that housed a construction company. This site will replace SEADC’s existing locations at 166 Eddy Street and another temporary site, which no longer meet the needs of its clients. The center is set to officially open in the summer of 2026, providing programs and services focused on youth development, health, economic success, and community safety for low-income children, youth, adults, and seniors in San Francisco.

Judy Young, the Executive Director of SEADC, expressed the significance of this milestone for the Southeast Asian community. “We are often overlooked in the Asian community. The new building will enable us to continue serving immigrant children and families, ensuring they thrive in the United States,” she stated.

Mayor London Breed emphasized the city’s commitment to supporting various communities, including investing in facilities that meet their specific needs. She noted that the acquisition of the new space recognizes SEADC’s decades of service to Southeast Asians and celebrates the significant work that lies ahead. Senator Wiener shared his pride in helping secure $2.5 million for community leaders to provide more services, including job training, substance abuse counseling, and translation services for the Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian communities. He expressed optimism about the center’s potential to address inequalities faced by Southeast Asian communities.

For the fiscal year 2022-2023, San Francisco’s budget includes $30 million dedicated to acquiring community facilities and enhancing tenant improvements. The Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development has released three rounds of proposals for the Asian Pacific Islander Nonprofit Acquisition Fund, and to date, has disbursed $29.5 million to 11 organizations.