Soko Buki, a coalition of churches, sued the YWCA in 1997 to prevent it from selling the property. Since then, both parties have been battling over the historic building, which is located at 1830 Sutter Street. The building is one of few built before World War II that has survived the 1960's Japantown redevelopment.
The YWCA was built in 1932 with finances raised by the wives of Japanese immigrants who wanted it to serve young women and girls from Japan. However, when an Alien Land Law banned Japanese immigrants from owning land, the building was held in a charitable trust by the YWCA, according to Soko Buki.
The YWCA argued that this trust never existed and that it was the legal owner of the building. It put the building up for sale in 1996 and was sued by Soko Buki.
The YWCA settled the case this week, agreeing to sell the property for an affordable price to Nihonmachi Little Friends, a community day care center. The price wasn't released.
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