A century-old S.F. church survived earthquakes. Now it's part of a real estate sell-off
The Academy of Art's sweeping effort to part with a large chunk of its vast San Francisco real estate portfolio has resulted in the sale of a century-old landmark.
The private, for-profit university sold the St. Brigid Church at 2151 Van Ness Ave. on Thursday for $4.7 million, public records show. The buyer, an entity linked to Fremont-based real estate firm JLA Home, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Recognized as a city landmark, the 20,000-square-foot former church survived both the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes. It features a pipe organ and soaring ceilings and its facade was constructed using the city's curbstones and crossing stones. It was restored by the Academy of Art, which purchased the property for $3.7 million in 2005 and used it as an auditorium.
The church was listed for sale by the academy in October, along with 10 other buildings located in downtown neighborhoods, which together span roughly 375,000 square feet. The Chronicle reached out to the academy for comment on the Van Ness Avenue property's sale, but did not hear back.
Other properties listed for sale include a 138,000-square-foot office property at 150 Hayes St., the Concordia Argonaut Club building on Van Ness Avenue and the former Commodore hotel at 825 Sutter, which served as student housing and was sold last year for $13.1 million. A sales brochure for the portfolio obtained by the Chronicle showed that the academy was seeking $130 million total for the buildings, though it appears that the school has not been able to secure a single buyer for all of the properties.
An academy spokesperson previously told the Chronicle that the sale was due to changing student needs, including the prevalence of online and hybrid learning. The school announced plans to discontinue its intercollegiate sports program at the end of the academic year.
San Francisco commercial real estate broker Charlie McCabe has been tracking the portfolio sale and in the past has sold property to the academy. He noted that while churches usually have "fewer potential buyers because of zoning, historic landmark issues and improvement reusability," prices are "maximized by finding an owner-user seeking these exact properties." The 2151 Van Ness property, however, sold for a "relatively low price to a different type of buyer who owns a nearby property," McCabe said.
The arts school - founded by Richard Stephens in 1929 and now run by his granddaughter, Elisa Stephens, who serves as its president - grew its real estate footprint in the city for decades starting in the 1990s. Its empire includes dozens of buildings in the downtown core ranging from housing to academic uses. That growth resulted in repeated clashes with the city over zoning violations, unpermitted building conversions and broken historic preservation rules.
A lawsuit filed by the San Francisco City Attorney in 2016 accusing the school of illegally converting dozens of buildings for its campus resulted in a historic $60 million settlement agreement. More recently, the school faced a fraud lawsuit over its recruitment practices that was settled in 2021.
The academy was issued a formal warning in February by a regional accreditation agency, the Western Association for Schools and Colleges (WASC), which found the university to be out of compliance with several key standards, including around its financial plan and governance, and for failing to show "measurable gains in graduation rates."
While the academy remains accredited, it was given a February 2028 deadline to correct the problems.
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