The Contemporary Jewish Museum, which has been closed to the public for over a year, now plans to sell its Yerba Buena area building in order to "right-size" the organization.

In the second example of a financially struggling museum organization in downtown San Francisco in recent years, the Contemporary Jewish Museum (CJM) now plans to sell off its 63,000 square foot headquarters on Mission Street at Yerba Buena Lane. Much like its would-be neighbor, the Mexican Museum, which has failed to open in nearby 706 Mission Street due to ongoing fundraising woes, the CJM has been struggling with large debts and an existential crisis, leading to the decision to sell its main asset.

As CJM Director Kerry King tells the Chronicle this week, the museum's board and remaining staff are looking at "right-sizing" the organization in order to continue its mission of celebrating Jewish culture and the diversity of the Jewish experience. Founded in 1984 as a non-collecting museum, the CJM expanded into the space at 736 Mission, a former PG&E substation, in 2008, after adding a contemporary addition to the building designed by prominent architect Daniel Libeskind.

With an annual operating budget of $7.5 million, the CJM got into major debt during the pandemic, taking out a $28 million loan. In November 2024, the organization announced that the museum would be closing and laying off 80% of its staff, and taking a year-long hiatus to regroup. King now tells the Chronicle that they have managed to bring down the debt load by about half since that time, to $14  million, and to stabilize the endowment.

What comes next is unclear, though the organization plans to resume programming at some point, and to find new space in which to operate. One possibility King mentions is remaining in some portion of the existing building in a lease-back arrangement with a new owner.

The architect Libeskind, who the blue-metal-clad 2,200-square-foot Yud Gallery with 26 diamond-shaped windows symbolizing life in celebration of the phrase l'chaim (to life) issued a statement about the sale of the building. He said that he hopes the building "continues to inspire all who encounter it, serving as a lasting testament to Jewish life in San Francisco and the creativity and cultural exchange it was conceived to foster."

Previously: Contemporary Jewish Museum In Downtown SF to Lay Off Much of Its Staff, Close for One Year or More