{"id":167975,"date":"2026-02-07T09:15:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T09:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/167975\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T09:15:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T09:15:14","slug":"sf-to-subpoena-developer-nick-podell-over-claim-he-shirked-500k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/167975\/","title":{"rendered":"SF to subpoena developer Nick Podell over claim he shirked $500K"},"content":{"rendered":"

The San Francisco city attorney\u2019s office will subpoena developer Nick Podell to compel him to attend a city hearing and respond to allegations that he failed to fulfill a sizable economic commitment<\/a> made in 2016 as part of a Mission District housing deal.<\/p>\n

The developer allegedly promised to fund $500,000 in renovations while securing permits to build the Madelon, a luxury Mission District apartment complex at 2000 Bryant St.<\/p>\n

The subpoena follows a request from District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder<\/a> to the Government Audit and Oversight Committee. Podell has not confirmed that he will be present at the\u00a0Feb. 19 meeting and, to ensure his presence, Fielder asked for the subpoena. It is unclear what will happen if he ignores the subpoena. The city attorney\u2019s office declined to comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The dispute goes back to September 2016 when Podell\u2019s lawyer, speaking at a hearing,\u00a0 committed $500,000<\/a> for a community art space within 681 Florida St., a 100-percent-affordable housing complex built on a parcel of land that Podell donated as part of the development deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The art space is now occupied by Cultura y Arte Nativa de las Americas (CANA)<\/a> and the work was completed in October of 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m asking the clerk to issue a subpoena to have him appear before our committee, to answer our questions about why he has not fulfilled the promise to the community around this half a million dollars,\u201d said Fielder after Thursday\u2019s meeting of the Government Audit and Oversight Committee. Podell was not invited to attend yesterday\u2019s meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Records of Podell\u2019s commitment include a 2016 hearing<\/a> in front of the Board of Supervisors, where Podell\u2019s representative, attorney Steven Vettel, said his client had committed to providing $500,000<\/a> in capital funding to build out the 10,000-square-foot community art space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That oral statement was followed up with a letter<\/a> to then-District 9 Supervisor David Campos. Although it has no signature, Podell\u2019s name is at the end of a letter describing different pledges, including the $500,0000 commitment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Emails<\/a> obtained by Mission Local show communication between two nonprofit housing developers and the New York-based company Junius Real Estate Partners<\/a>, which appears to be acting on Podell\u2019s behalf.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The correspondence dates from 2021 to 2024 and includes multiple attempts by the Mission Economic Development Agency<\/a> and the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation<\/a> to collect the $500,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMEDA and our partners at TNDC have understood the tenant improvement commitment for the community arts space at 681 Florida Street since we were awarded the site. We have always prioritized this investment as a vital resource for the Mission, and we are glad to be working towards a resolution with Nick Podell,\u201d read a statement by Mission Economic Development Agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to seeing these funds go to CANA\u2019s new space to ensure this cultural hub can fully serve our neighborhood.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Junius representative wrote in 2021 that\u00a0the funds could be disbursed \u201cto whatever entity you want.\u201d In an exchange in January 2024, however, Junius informed the developers the money was to be sent upon completion of the project.<\/p>\n

In October, a MEDA representative wrote, \u201ckindly asking\u201d for the $500,000 as construction wrapped up.<\/p>\n

Susan Heller, whose company, H.Y. Floor & Gameline Painting, Inc<\/a>, completed the flooring at the art space, said she is still owed 35 percent of her bill \u2014\u00a0about $47,000.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The total cost of the buildout was up to $2.7 million, according to Roberto Hernandez, chief economic officer at CANA. Most of it was paid for by private donors, but the expectation was that they would also receive Podell\u2019s contribution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just a small family business. Why are the small businesses funding this big developer? It just doesn\u2019t seem fair,\u201d said Heller.<\/p>\n

Reached by phone on Thursday, Podell declined to comment. Junius Real Estate Partners did not reply to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

The last time a supervisor called for a subpoena to be issued was in June when the city attorney \u2014 on behalf of\u00a0 District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton and Fielder \u2014 subpoenaed<\/a> the former leaders of the Parks Alliance after the nonprofit dissolved in economic chaos<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Former District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin also asked for a subpoena in 2016<\/a> over the Millennium Tower.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Francisco city attorney\u2019s office will subpoena developer Nick Podell to compel him to attend a city…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[6702,39289,13133,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-167975","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-board-of-supervisors","9":"tag-bryant-street","10":"tag-jackie-fielder","11":"tag-san-francisco","12":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","13":"tag-san-francisco-news","14":"tag-sf","15":"tag-sf-headlines","16":"tag-sf-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}