![\"Laundromat](\"https:\/\/d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net\/img\/c800x450-w800-q60\/uploads\/2026\/08\/laundromat-Apt-8-18-800x450.jpg\")
<\/picture> <\/div>\nHappy Tuesday, and welcome to another edition of <\/span>Rent Free<\/span><\/i>. This week, we take a look at the final chapter in the long-running development battle over San Francisco’s “historic laundromat.”<\/span><\/p>\n When I first interviewed Robert Tillman about his effort to convert his laundromat in San Francisco’s Mission District into a 75-unit apartment building in 2018, <\/span>he quipped that<\/span><\/a> “i<\/span>t’s taken me longer to get to this point than it took for the United States to win World War II.”<\/span><\/p>\n At that point, he’d already spent four years in the entitlement process and close to $1 million on predevelopment costs.<\/span><\/p>\n Eight years on from that interview, and 12 years since Tillman initially proposed apartments on the site, the 75-unit project is finally beginning construction.<\/span><\/p>\n Observed on my afternoon run: construction is underway at the site of the Mission District's "Tillman laundromat." <\/p>\n The owner was a crank who said he'd sue the city rather than accede to "the groups," back at the dawn of the YIMBY era.<\/p>\n 1\/5 pic.twitter.com\/T0oivu3YuB<\/a><\/p>\n — Chris Elmendorf (@CSElmendorf) August 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n‘Historic Laundromat’ Project Finally Begins Construction<\/b><\/h1>\n
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