Two New Businesses Moving Into the Castro Gayborhood

Umpqua Bank is proposing to open a Castro branch in the space that now houses Magnet, the gay men’s health clinic, but faces opposition from those who question the need for another financial institution in the heart of the city’s Castro gayborhood. 

In early 2015 Magnet is expected to relocate around the corner from its current home at 4122 18th Street into an expanded health center that the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, of which the clinic is a part, is building on the 400 block of Castro Street. 

As seen in the artist’s rendering at right, the bank intends to reskin the 18th Street building, which is adjacent to a city parking lot, and upgrade the facade and entrance way.  It also is proposing to work with the community to install a mural on the side of the structure fronting the parking lot entrance and possibly install a new structure for local organizations to post their posters. “ It would be a total remodel of the building,” said Lani Hayward, the executive vice president of creative strategies at Umpqua Bank. 

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