Dance Mission Theater has its eyes on a new home – one they’re going to build with the help of a local union and the Mission Economic Development Agency.
MEDA has brokered a deal between the dance organization and UFCW 64, a union that owns the property where it has offices at 1980 Mission Street near 16th Street.
Though plans are still preliminary, the idea is to redevelop the two-story, 11,000-square-foot building, doubling its size and adding another two levels. The union would operate on one of those levels and Dance Mission would occupy the remaining two floors.
“The intent as memorialized by both organizations is to explore feasibility of 1980 Mission as a long term home for Dance MIssion,” said Feliciano Vera, who has been managing the project for MEDA.
Dance Mission, which has been producing political art and supporting dancers from diverse backgrounds for 40 years, has a lease at its current 24th Street location through 2018, but has already weathered several steep rent increases and cannot take another, the director said.
