Amid skyrocketing prices and tightening supply in the Bay Area’s commercial real estate market, nonprofit organizations are finding it increasingly difficult to afford spaces in the neighborhoods they serve.
That’s the reason behind a new site called spacesforgood.org, a free platform where landlords can list spaces specifically targeting nonprofit tenants, and where nonprofits can search for affordable options that suit their needs.
The new service, run by the Northern California Community Loan Fund (NCCLF), is set for an official launch celebration on Tuesday, Jan. 30 in San Francisco.
Spacesforgood.org is partly a response to a 122-percent increase in office spaces from 2010 through 2015, as cited by data from the national real estate firm CBRE.
That figure was repeated in a 2016 report by the Northern California Grantmakers, which says two-thirds of surveyed nonprofits “will have to make a decision about moving in the next five years,” with 82-percent concerned over the real estate market’s impact to their future programming.
Spacesforgood.org aims to create new real estate opportunities for nonprofits.
The site, says NCCLF director Joanne Lee, “allows agents to list space with the needs of Bay Area nonprofits in mind. In turn, nonprofits with unused space can generate revenue by listing their own available space.”
“The site includes additional resources that aid in their search, and our expert consultants are available for one-on-one assistance to users as well,” Lee said.