Background

The Transform1060 location has been a sex positive community space for over a decade. Under the name “Alchemy,” it operated as a private rental space for several years before being taken over by another bay area organization. Renamed “SF Catalyst,” the space hosted a wide range of events. In 2020, the previous managing organization approved an expansion into an adjoining space at 190 Russ Street,  increasing the available square footage and improving accessibility. 

Transition

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the space was closed to comply with city and state restrictions on indoor gatherings. As with many businesses and organizations, it accumulated a sizable debt of unpaid rent. In the summer of 2021, the space was able to reopen for limited events. In August 2021, a group of community stakeholders and venue operations team members offered to take over the rent debt and ownership of the space and run it as a new public benefit non-profit. 

On October 21, 2021 the previous managing organization voted unanimously to approve the transfer proposal and move forward in the process of transitioning the space to new ownership and oversight, with a goal date of December 31, 2021. Transform1060 signed a new lease in late December, effective January 1, 2022. As part of that lease, they assumed the existing rent debt accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Our Values

Our stewardship of the Transform1060 space is grounded in four core principles: transparency, accountability, inclusion, and fiscal sustainability. In our full transition proposal, we outlined how each of these values will be put into practice. Our goals for Transform1060 include: 

• Providing event facilities to a broad spectrum of the San Francisco Bay area’s fetish and kink communities with an intentional focus on increasing services to and participation of historically excluded and under-represented people.
• Hosting a range of public and private events, including but not limited to “play parties,” group meetings, social gatherings, educational seminars, and private rentals.
• Serving the community as a registered public benefit educational non-profit rather than benefiting private owners/individuals.
• Fostering inclusive representation and leadership that strives to reflect the diversity of the communities served by creating a clear path to leadership positions for community stakeholders invested in Transform1060’s success.
• Creating and maintaining the most accessible space possible given the physical limitations of the building.
• Prioritizing long-term, responsible fiscal sustainability by developing a prudent reserve and debt service (prompt, consistent debt repayment.)