I-Hotel

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The I-Hotel, officially known as the International Hotel, was built in 1907 and was a low-cost residential hotel located at the corner of Kearny and Jackson Streets in the Manilatown section of San Francisco. It was home to many Asian Americans, specifically a large Filipino-American population.

[edit] History

During the urban renewal and redevelopment movement of the mid-1960s, the hotel was targeted for demolition, and the first eviction notices were issued to residents in 1968. However, nine years of litigation, public protests, and disagreements between and among activists and public officials ensued. At one point, San Francisco Sheriff Richard Hongisto refused to enforce the eviction order, and was held in contempt of court. He later reversed his position.

The final residents were evicted on August 4, 1977. In 1978, then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein created an International Hotel Citizens Advisory Committee, which was unable to break the deadlock between low-cost housing advocates and the property owner. The building stood empty while the fate of the site continued to be debated, but was finally demolished in 1981.

In 1994 the site was acquired by the Archdiocese of San Francisco which planned to build a replacement low-cost residential project. In 2003, construction began on the new I-Hotel, and the building was completed on August 26, 2005. The new building contains 88 studio apartments and 16 one-bedroom apartments. A lottery was held to determine priority for occupancy, with 12 residents of the original I-Hotel given priority. Occupancy started in October 2005. The new building also contains a ground-floor community center and a historical display commemorating the original I-Hotel.