AIDS housing advocates have set their sights on two city-owned parking lots in the Castro as potential development sites where not only could homes for people with HIV and AIDS be built but parking could be increased.

The two parking lots are in the heart of the city's gay neighborhood and the projects could be a means to ensure HIVers are not driven out of the community. The development proposal could also address a longstanding cry for more parking in the area from merchants, residents, and visitors alike.

One lot is located on Castro Street behind the Castro Theatre, while the second is the L-shaped lot behind Walgreens entered into from 18th Street. Both parking lots could potentially be rebuilt with underground parking, ground floor retail, office spaces, and housing for HIVers or people with disabilities. The idea is to have the retail employ the residents, offering them some stable income.

"It is going to be a complex project – no ways about it – but also one of the best opportunities we have," said Brian Basinger, founder and director of the AIDS Housing Alliance, of the potential project. "Part of the sell is we can increase the parking there now."

The 30-year-old Theatre Rhinoceros, the queer theater presently located in the Mission at 16th and South Van Ness, is also eyeing the lot behind the Castro Theatre as its new home. Theatre Rhinoceros officials have been in talks with the AIDS housing advocates in setting aside two stories of any building as a performing arts space.

In light of the fact any development on the Castro parking lots would be years away, Theatre Rhinoceros has also been in talks with the LGBT Community Center to convert its second floor auditorium space into a space more appropriate for theatrical productions and performances.

"The thing about the Castro co-op idea is it is really exciting since we would be in the middle of the Castro. I think it is great what is happening but we know how slowly things move construction-wise in San Francisco," said Theatre Rhinoceros Executive Director Jon Fisher. "We want to make a decision as quickly as possible. We have done the Mission. It is time to get into a neighborhood a little more copasetic with the queer community."

The housing plans, so far, are preliminary, and backers of the proposal have been quietly shopping their idea around for the last year. Basinger has apprised Supervisor Bevan Dufty of the proposal, but he has yet to approach Mayor Gavin Newsom's administration about converting the parking lots into infill developments.

Basinger said before he approaches City Hall, "We are waiting to get architectural drawings and models built."

"My vision is to have housing and supportive employment as one of the wrap around services," added Basinger. "The vision is to have housing and jobs designed around people's reality instead of telling a disabled person to get a job designed for an able person."

Basinger has enlisted the help of architect Alan Martinez, who sits on the housing alliance's board, to draw up the proposed plans. Martinez said the proposal centers around the question: is having surface parking lots the best use for public lands?

"We were thinking there were these parking lots there that are probably not the highest, best use for the community. You can probably have more parking there, of course that would be controversial, too," said Martinez. "We want to get people talking about is that the best use – an open parking lot – of public land in a dense area that has so many needs."

Castro resident Steve Adams, who is also president of the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro Street, said if the project increased parking it would most likely gain support from business owners.

"We want more parking in the neighborhood, either a parking garage or more parking spots for people to come into the neighborhood to shop and drink. It is the number one complaint I hear from merchants and people coming in from other neighborhoods," said Adams, a vice president at Sterling Bank and Trust.

Adams said the parking element could help finance the AIDS housing proposal.

"If you did underground the parking, that parking could support paying to build such a structure, where you use parking as a win-win situation," he said. "I support what the AIDS Housing Alliance is trying to do. It helps keep the neighborhood the neighborhood."

Basinger said he expects to present the plans for the AIDS housing proposal at one of the Planning Department's Castro charette meetings this fall. The design process, formally called the Upper Market Workshop Series and Design Plan, will kickoff on September 11.

Basinger said it would be essential not only to have business owners' support but also community buy-in to the proposal for it to become a reality. He is hopeful through the charette process he can win support for his plans.

"What we need is getting the specifics down and introducing the concept to people. Also, quite frankly, with the parking issue we want to make sure that the whole community is on board for this. Especially the merchants," he said. "We want to be super respectful of the merchants and their needs because this has to be something the community pulls together around."

Theater also eyes center

Theatre Rhinoceros has made no secret over the years of wanting to relocate closer to the city's LGBT neighborhood. Several times it had thought it found a way to relocate to the Castro, only to see those opportunities go nowhere.

At one point the theater thought it had a lock on transforming the old City Athletic Gym behind Pink Triangle Park on 17th Street into its new home. But the building's owner pulled out and leased it to a real estate firm.

Another potential site was the vacant lot at 16th, Noe, and Market streets. The theater had been in talks with the Noe Valley Methodist church that owned the site to construct a new building to house both organizations.

But the church later changed course and sold the property to a developer. And instead of a theater being built there, talk has now turned to incorporating a new home for the GLBT Historical Society into any project that is built at the site.

Other possibilities that have come and gone included building a theater space at the Harvey Milk Recreation Center in Duboce Park or on a pier along the waterfront with other gay arts organizations.

"We would have been sort of like the queer pier," joked Fisher.

With his options running out, Fisher approached former community center Executive Director Thom Lynch, who resigned this month, about moving into the Market Street building.

"I like the idea of being at the center. It is becoming like Castro East at the end of Market Street. You have also got Octavia Lounge and Martuni's nearby," said Fisher. "We would have to convert the space. It is not a theatrical space right now; it is a room but a room with big possibilities."

The discussions never progressed further than between himself and Lynch, said Fisher. He now plans to sit down with the center's interim executive director Rebecca Rolfe to discuss the proposal.

The space is the center's largest room for rent and generates needed revenue for the facility. Those issues would need to be addressed, said Rolfe, adding that she is open to reviewing the theater's proposal.

"We are continuing the conversation with them. At this point it really is a conversation," she said. "I think Theater Rhino is great. We would love to have more arts and culture in the building. We need to look at what their long-term interests are."

The theater is on a month-to-month space at its current location. Fisher said both the theater's and the center's boards would need to determine if the proposal is feasible. If so the theater would launch a capital campaign to raise the money it would need for construction. He said this week he did not have any cost estimates yet for the project but that he is eager to move forward.

"We are all set to go and we are eager and we are ready. It is our 30th anniversary and I would like to see us open our 31st season in a new space," said Fisher.

If a deal is struck between the theater and the center, it would mark a coming home of sorts for the organization. The first non-bar venue the theater presented a show at was the old Grove Street Gay Center, said Fisher.

"It would be nice closure if we ended up back in the center," he said.