Save the Fab Mab: Build SF’s Community-Owned Creative Space

Our goal is to acquire the historic Mabuhay Gardens, a.k.a. “the Fab Mab,” and give it to the Creative Communities of San Francisco to own and co-create.

Imagine a cultural landmark not flipped into another glass high-rise, but handed over to the artists, musicians, dreamers, and makers who keep this city alive. We are setting up a non-profit here to allow this to happen. We have a sister space in Leipzig, Germany, where we turned an abandoned building into a creative cultural platform—with a studio for creating, a cafe, a bar, a pizza oven along with meeting spots and event spaces for gathering, providing a third space for all creatives, in the most diverse community. Folks even stepped in to build the bathrooms. That's the DIY spirit we’re channeling here.

A legacy too loud to silence

435-443 Broadway isn’t just brick and mortar—it’s mythology. The Dead Kennedys screamed here. Patti Smith prowled the stage. Robin Williams cut his teeth here. Whoopi Goldberg set fire to expectations here. Punk was born. Comedy grew claws. Movements found their voice.

The Fab Mab is more than a venue. It’s San Francisco’s rebellious, beating heart. And we refuse to let that heart flatline.

The Vision: Let’s Build a Creative Village!

We’re not buying this building for profit. We’re reclaiming it for possibility.

Picture it: an intergenerational, interdisciplinary village where artists can gather, jam, experiment, and make weird, beautiful things and friendships together. Space to perform, to play, to fail gloriously and try again. Access is free. Tools and equipment that are affordable, never gated. A commons where creativity isn’t a commodity, it’s a birthright.

Why now?

Because developers are circling. They see dollar signs where we hear drumbeats. They want condos; we want community, music, pottery, films, healing circles and whatever else you want to create! And if we don’t act fast, the Fab Mab will be gone, and with it another piece of the city’s creative soul.

We are not developers—we are filmmakers, potters, breakdancers, architects, poets, healers. We know that shared creative spaces aren’t luxuries. They’re lifelines.

Francesca’s legacy lives on

This fight is also personal. Francesca Valdez, the building’s late owner, passed away at the end of July. We had the handover plan lined up but we thought we had six months. Luckily Francesca’s sister Elvie is honoring this plan, but rolling debts and pressure abound. It's a road with an end unless we can raise the funds.

Francesca’s story is one of grit: sold into marriage young, escaping abuse, starting as the venue’s cleaner, then buying it outright. She championed artists, neighbors, and women’s rights. Her dying wish? That the Mab remain a cultural beacon—not crumble under the weight of another luxury tower.

And here’s a piece of magic: after hearing our vision for Creative Community Studios, Francesca and her longtime friend Howie Whitehouse sought us out. They quickly became close allies. When finances grew precarious, we stepped in to cover the bank’s interest and property taxes, keeping the venues alive while they mapped a plan for its future.

The numbers & timeline:

How you can help

This is a once-in-a-generation chance to keep San Francisco’s creative soul alive. Let’s not just save the Fab Mab—let’s spark a new era of collective creation.

With love & gratitude,

The Creative Studios Team