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For 43 years, Carlos Navarro has run the Navarro\u2019s Academy of Martial Arts & Bodybuilding Gym from its location in Bernal Heights, but it looked as though he would be forced to vacate the space at 3470 Mission St. after the landlord announced in August 2015 that rent would increase from $1,800 to $6,500.<\/p>\n
Despite pleas from the Navarro family and District 9 Supervisor David Campos, the building\u2019s owner, Alice Tse, informed them that a Christian bookstore would be replacing the gym. However, Navarro and his daughter, Rubie Navarro, who helps him run the gym, are not leaving without a fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have a good business here [according to Tse] because we\u2019re not making top dollar,\u201d said Rubie. \u201cI\u2019d rather charge my students what is affordable to them so that they can keep their children off the streets.\u00a0 It\u2019s good business for us on the longevity that [a] child grows up to be a police officer or grows up to be a supervisor and turns around and helps others.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since being told that they needed to leave the space, the Navarro\u2019s have taken action, hiring Salvatore Timpano, a landlord-tenant lawyer in San Francisco.<\/p>\n
According to Timpano, the landlord has the right to take possession of the property if the landlord complies with state law. In this case, the landlord retaliated against her tenants after they asked for repairs that were necessary to the building, serving them with a notice to vacate.\u00a0 But the Navarro\u2019s felt that the notice was served in bad faith, and was in violation of state law.<\/p>\n
They are hoping for some type of settlement agreement with Tse, where the landlord would receive market value rent through tenant contributions and Proposition J\u2014the preservation fund approved by voters that provides incentives for landlords to continue to rent to historical legacy businesses at risk of displacement. The case will go to trial (unless it is settled or is dismissed) where a jury will decide who prevails.<\/p>\n
A demurrer hearing (a challenge to the legal validity of a complaint) was held in November with the Navarro\u2019s prevailing. Rubie and Timpano both stated that they have filed all of the appropriate paperwork and are waiting for the landlord to file an amended complaint by sometime next week.<\/p>\n
Community members have rallied to defend the Navarro\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cNavarro\u2019s is a legacy business that is a vital part and fabric of the community going back decades,\u201d said Erick Arg\u00fcello, president of the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District. \u201cThey are part of the soul of San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n
Supervisor David Campos, who authored Proposition J, said his legislation is designed to protect businesses like the Navarros\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Navarros are the type of business that has reached out and played a role in protecting the public safety and giving young people equal positive activities after school,\u201d Campos said. \u201cSo we support their fight to continue serving the community as they have for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tse, however, doesn\u2019t seem interested in Proposition J.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have an ax to grind against my client,\u201d Timpano said of Tse\u2019s legal team. \u201cMy client would actually pay more rent than they\u2019re currently paying and Prop J would substitute the difference \u2026 but the landlord won\u2019t consider any Prop J benefits or applications. They want to proceed with the eviction.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Navarros\u2019 situation is not unique.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s part of a bigger pattern of rent going way up and you have generations of students who come to the studio who aren\u2019t able to access it anymore and there is no regard for what people in the community have traditionally wanted\u2026 It is [more] about what is going to make the most money for the building owners,\u201d said Julien Ball, an organizer with the Mission Bernal chapter of Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment.<\/p>\n
Despite the current litigation, Navarro\u2019s still has good number of students enrolling in its classes.<\/p>\n
Hugo Cesar Rincon, a student since 2002, said there is a sense of community and family there, and that seeing the Navarro\u2019s fighting back gives the students courage to keep fighting in their own lives, even when it is difficult.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[su_slider source=”media: 28809,28810,28811,28812″ limit=”25″ link=”image” target=”blank” width=”700″ height=”460″ autoplay=”0″ speed=”500″][su_menu][\/su_slider] For 43 years, Carlos Navarro has run the Navarro\u2019s Academy of Martial Arts & Bodybuilding Gym from its location in Bernal Heights, but it looked as though he would be forced to vacate the space at 3470 Mission St. after the landlord announced in August […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":28810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3929],"tags":[6201,3989,6203,3599,7539,7541,4927,7537,6205,6199,3631,7543,7545],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-28808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en","tag-alice-tse","tag-calle-24-latino-cultural-district","tag-carlos-navarro","tag-david-campos-en","tag-displacement","tag-erick-arguello-en","tag-eviction","tag-legacy-business","tag-legacy-business-historic-preservation-fund","tag-navarros-academy-of-martial-arts-bodybuilding-gym","tag-proposition-j","tag-rubie-navarro-en","tag-salvatore-timpano-en","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n