Despite a large sign that reads “for sale” on the building that houses Adobe Books at 3130 24th St., owner Sharon Purewal said that she is merely “open” to selling the building — if there’s interest.
The building is not officially listed for sale. It is currently valued at around $1.9 million, according to Zillow.
Purewal’s father managed the property until he died about five years ago. Now, Purewal said, she doesn’t have the bandwidth to be in charge of the building, and it’s been difficult finding a company to manage such a small property.
Purewal said she’d had conversations with the cooperative that owns Adobe Books, one of the units in the property, to explore its interest in buying the building.
Cooperative member Jon Fellman said the group has considered purchasing the building — either collectively with the other tenants, collaborating with the San Francisco Community Land Trust or by launching a fundraising campaign.
Nothing, however, is set in stone.
“We’re not sure we want to even get involved with owning it,” said Fellman.
“We spend a lot of time working with the community, doing a lot of programming here, and that would just be a whole other realm of responsibility that I don’t think anyone has the ability to take on, necessarily.”
Because Adobe Books is a legacy business in the 24th Mission Neighborhood Commercial Transit District, any other business wanting to occupy the space would need the blessing of the planning commission.
Adobe Books first opened in 1989 at 3166 16th St. Its owner, Andrew McKinley, ran it more like a living room than a business. Lone Star Swan, the famous pigeon man of 16th Street, occasionally lived in the back room. After Jack Spade, a luxury accessories company, expressed interest in the space, Adobe’s rent increased to the point where McKinley could no longer afford it. McKinley handed over the store to a cooperative, which opened the location on 24th Street in 2013, and turned Adobe into a nonprofit in 2024.
Authors like Rebecca Solnit, Tamsin Smith and Tongo Eisen-Martin have been customers and collaborators of the bookshop. Musicians like Devendra Banhart, Sonny Smith and Thee Oh Sees have played sets there.