The 111-year-old building formerly housing Cine Latino at 2551 Mission St. between 21st and 22nd streets, played its very last movie back in 1987. In the last few months, its century-old facade, long derelict, has been replaced by a sleek, modern-looking three-story structure with floor-to-ceiling windows facing west to the shiny marquee of the Alamo Drafthouse theater.
The 9,225-square-foot ground floor will become retail and an art gallery, according to the architect in charge of the project. But that is not all: The owners are also planning to refurbish the top two floors to create individual artist studios, and may add a rooftop theater to the building.
The Cort Family and their architects, Hemminger Architects, have applied for permits to turn the second floor into individual work spaces that include partition walls and common accessible bathroom facilities.
The application specifies that all the spaces on those floors are intended for workspaces, and not for housing. In addition, the city issued an elevator permit last year and a fireproofing one in 2022.
Charles Hemminger, the architect working with the family on the project, said that the owner of the building, Vera Cort, who died on Monday, decided a year ago that she wanted the second floor to house spaces for artists to work.
“Vera wanted to do right by the building,” he said. “ She was dedicated to the building to the end.”
The building’s history — it originated as the Wigwag theater in 1913, part of a group of theaters that opened after the 1906 earthquake — will also be honored. Hemminger said that his firm is in conversation with a company in London, England, to convert the 2,750-square-foot roof of the building into an outdoor movie theater.
Lastly, Hemminger said that Cort also wanted to turn the 7,500-square-foot third floor into more space that can serve local artists. However, permits submitted to the city did not yet specify any proposed uses for the third floor.
Hemminger said that he is hopeful that the pending permits will be approved soon, as 99 percent of the exterior shell is now done. As for the interior, he thinks permits and work could take up another six months to complete.
Daniel Sider, the Planning Department’s chief of staff, confirmed that these permits are still under review. Sider did not specify how long it may take to approve them.
Many artists in the community have already benefited from a similar project Cort started after she converted a former mayonnaise factory at 1890 Bryant St. into a space where more than 60 artists now have their studios.
Kathleen Rydar, an artist at 1890 Bryant, has been at the studio for more than 10 years. She says that it is important for artists to have these kinds of spaces.
“So grateful she had the ability to see that the building could be used as such a space for the community,” she said. “ I’ve always been very impressed on how responsive she was.”
I’m impressed that the Cort family continues to make space for artists as well as small businesses. 1890 Bryant is choke full of artist studios.