JUAN PIFARRE PLAZA

Juan Pifarré (pronounced: pee fah RAY) Plaza provides quality and affordable housing for low-income households. People with AIDS have also been integrated into the community. Located at the corner of 21st Street and Van Ness, the site is also known as “3101 21st Street Apartments” and “1010 Van Ness.” Built within a beautiful Mission District residential neighborhood, the construction was completed in 1996.

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Design features

Surrounding Victorian structures inspire the architectural context for the building design. A large garden on the site is a community building project for residents.

Juan Pifarré Plaza was designed by Gonzalo Castro in association with Asian Neighborhood Design and built by Nibbi Brothers General Contractors.

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A historic namesake

Juan Pifarré immigrated to the U. S. from Argentina. His career in the Bay Area included work as a coordinator of the La Raza studies program at San Francisco State. He was an affirmative action officer for the San Francisco Unified School District and for the San Francisco Department of Public Health. At the time of his death, he worked at the San Jose Redevelopment Agency and was publisher of the leading Bay area Spanish-language newspaper, Horizantes.

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Pifarré is remembered as an influential activist who tirelessly and passionately championed the causes of immigrants and the poor of the Mission District.

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Funding programs

Juan Pifarré Plaza was developed with construction financing provided by Bank of America; construction and permanent financing was provided by Savings Associations Mortgage Company Inc. (SAMCO)-Affordable Housing Program and the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program.