Preserving the Gran Oriente Hotel as a Community Resource
SOMCAN is fighting to preserve the first-ever building owned by a Filipino organization in North America, the Gran Oriente Filipino Hotel, in South Park as a community resource.
SOMCAN and other community members oppose the sale, because it threatens this building’s important role as affordable housing and as a nearly century old resource for San Francisco’s Filipino community.
The community is calling for the owners to agree to the sale of the building to a non-profit capable of preserving the building.
It has 24 units of affordable housing and its tenants include elders, blue collar workers, and a man who was previously homeless. The sale of the building will mean loss of much needed affordable housing, and the historical legacy of the building as a vital community resource.