When Nicole Meldahl received an email from one of the former operators of San Francisco’s storied Cliff House in August, she wasn’t sure what to expect. “I have something I’ve been wanting to tell you for a long time,” it read.

The executive director of the Western Neighborhoods Project, an organization dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of the city’s foggy Richmond and Sunset districts, knew the sender, Mary Hountalas, well. Maybe it was a long-forgotten artifact, Meldahl thought, or news of something else she wanted to donate. “I had no idea this was going to be what she offered,” Meldahl told SFGATE over the phone this week.

On Saturday, Meldahl formally signed an agreement on behalf of her nonprofit to take over the rights of the Cliff House name and other trademarks associated with the business, including original recipes from the restaurant, its website and social media domains and the iconic sign that once adorned the top of the building. The news comes as the current lessee of the 162-year-old institution, Alex Leff of Sutro Lands End Partners, announced plans to SFGATE to reopen at least the street-level portion of the space by next summer, with construction fencing and scaffolding slated to appear around the building within the next 30 days. Both groups plan to discuss a broader licensing and partnership agreement in the coming weeks.

“We’re very excited because this will stop a longtime cycle of private concessioners taking ownership of this space and doing whatever they want with it,” Meldahl said. “The Hountalas family deciding to give this to a nonprofit with no business affiliation and not a property owner is truly incredible, and signals a foresight for the longevity of the Cliff House’s history.”