S.F. abruptly scrapped a Fillmore community center lease deal. The fallout runs deeper

It was supposed to be an emergency fix for one of lower Fillmore's most glaring vacancies: San Francisco officials planned to give a long-standing nonprofit on the neighborhood's edge a $1-per-year, no-bid lease to reopen the abandoned Ella Hill Hutch Community Center with programming for 150 children and teens this summer.

But days before the lease was set to go to Booker T. Washington Community Service Center, city leaders who had previously supported the deal announced a change of plans.

Mayor Daniel Lurie's office confirmed Friday that the Recreation and Park Department will assume temporary operational oversight of the center while city officials and community stakeholders work together to identify a permanent operator - and the Booker T. Washington nonprofit said it is no longer pursuing a deal. The lease dispute has exposed deeper fractures in the Fillmore, where long-standing revitalization efforts have yet to deliver lasting wins.

The mayor's office declined to comment on whether the scrapped deal is the result of growing scrutiny over Booker T. Washington Center's own ties to the widening Dream Keeper corruption probe, which ensnared Ella Hill Hutch's previous nonprofit operator, Collective Impact.

This week, the Chronicle reported that Booker T. Washington had been referenced in the broader Dream Keeper investigation, during a period when the organization received city funding connected to the program, prompting concern among some Fillmore groups about advancing a lease agreement without a competitive process or clearer vetting of nonprofit relationships.

"We are ensuring our kids remain safe and no family or child is left without access to services and support this summer," a spokesperson for Lurie said in a statement to the Chronicle, and described Booker T. Washington as a "valued partner to the city" serving families and seniors in the neighborhood for decades. Its services are critical, the mayor's office said.

"The city will continue extensive and thoughtful community engagement to determine the best path forward for Ella Hill Hutch Community Center and Fillmore Western Addition kids and families."

Dream Keeper was a city initiative launched under former Mayor London Breed to direct tens of millions of dollars in public funds to Black-led nonprofits in San Francisco as part of a racial equity effort. It is now under investigation after prosecutors alleged that senior city officials and nonprofit partners exploited the program through favoritism, conflicts of interest, and improper steering of contracts.

Sheryl Davis, former director of San Francisco's Human Rights Commission, and nonprofit operator James Spingola, who led Collective Impact, have been charged in connection with alleged misconduct tied to the Dream Keeper initiative. Last year, City Attorney David Chiu moved to cancel all city contracts with Collective Impact amid the investigation, a decision that effectively forced the organization to shut down and left Ella Hill Hutch vacant.

Shakirah Simley, Booker T. Washington's executive director, previously worked inside of City Hall as a legislative aide and departed the commission in 2021, and has not been accused of wrongdoing. The nonprofit's 72,000-square-foot facility at 800 Presidio Ave. includes housing for transitional aged youth, and its existing contracts with the city remain in place. These contracts could have been scaled quickly at Ella Hill Hutch, and Booker T. Washington's planned lease for the space was publicly supported by multiple city departments and supervisors, as well as 240 prominent community organizations and individuals across the city.

"We share a deep commitment to the Fillmore community and to ensuring that every family, senior and child in this neighborhood has access to the services and support they deserve," Booker T. Washington's board said in a statement to the Chronicle, adding it reached the decision to no longer pursue leasing Ella Hutch Hill after "careful reflection."

"We believe the path forward requires a broader, more deliberate process that includes additional community input," the board said. It added that the community center holds "profound meaning" for the neighborhood: "Decisions about its future should reflect the full breadth of community input, not be made under time pressure or political conflict."

Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, whose District 5 includes the Fillmore and Western Addition, said the priority is and has been preventing gaps in service for the area's most vulnerable residents.

"Given the neighborhood's history, there is a very real concern that once a community facility closes, it may not reopen," Mahmood said. "We pushed the city to seek an organization with deep community roots and a long history of service in the Fillmore, and Booker T. Washington embodies those qualities. We respect their decision to step back."

The lease controversy has exposed divisions within the neighborhood, where City Hall last year pledged to reexamine stalled revitalization efforts. Once a historic center of Black life in San Francisco, the Fillmore has spent decades reckoning with the aftershocks of redevelopment that cleared blocks of housing and deeply uprooted the neighborhood. Its once-thriving commercial corridor has yet to recover, while its Black population has been shrinking over time. Last year, the Fillmore area lost its only full-service supermarket.

Supporters of a quick reopening of Ella Hill Hutch argued the planned lease deal offered a chance to restore critical programming to a revered neighborhood hub, and pointed out that many nonprofits in the neighborhood were recipients of Dream Keeper Funds, including some who are now opposing Booker T. Washington's expansion.

They said competition for scarce city funding and lingering fallout from the Dream Keeper controversy have heightened tensions among local nonprofits. Some residents describe a community shaped by distrust and rivalry over resources, while others point to structural challenges - including delayed or inconsistent city funding and limited administrative support - that have left organizations struggling to meet city requirements. Some said they are concerned about the selection of a single nonprofit for access to funding without broader community vetting.

"There are so many facets to who we are and what we all need to collectively build our community," said Ericka Scott, the founder of the Fillmore's Honey Art Studio, who is part of a coalition currently working to activate another stubborn vacancy - the 50,000-square-foot Fillmore Heritage Center, which has been largely empty since 2019. "The city is always looking for one leader in the Fillmore."

Scott said she also met with city officials about the issue and was surprised that a deal for Ella Hill Hutch had been made secretly.

"Booker T. Washington checks the boxes," Scott said. "But it is the easy way out."

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This story was originally published May 23, 2026 at 10:40 AM.