Big, new mixed-use project proposed for Potrero Power Plant property

By J.K. Dineen : sfgate – excerpt

The new owner of the mothballed Potrero Power Plant on San Francisco’s central waterfront has submitted a plan to build more than 1,800 residential units on the 21-acre property, a number that could jump to nearly 2,700 homes if the group is successful in obtaining an adjacent switchyard owned by PG&E.

The housing-heavy proposal, which proposes significantly more units than previously contemplated, will be subject to environmental review that will take about 18 months to complete… (more)

 

OP-ED The Eastern Neighborhoods Plan has Failed Us

by Alison Heath : potreroview – excerpt

In the late-1990s, before the dot-com bubble burst, San Francisco’s eastern neighborhoods faced many of the same issues as today:  rapid gentrification and displacement.  In Potrero Hill and Dogpatch real estate investors gobbled up industrial sites made valuable by 1988 Live-Work legislation that was supposed to help artists, instead displacing them, along with small businesses and manufacturers. Developers skirted zoning controls, bought cheap industrial land and converted it quickly to more profitable housing, receiving tax benefits and exemptions from residential code requirements.

In an attempt to resolve land use conflicts, an eastern neighborhoods planning process began in 2001. The goal was to build complete communities, with a balance of land uses, as well as affordable housing, transportation, and new and improved open space to serve a growing population.

As the planning process dragged on, development in the eastern neighborhoods continued mostly unabated until 2006, when a 68-unit Mission District condominium project, 2660 Harrison Street, was appealed to the Board of Supervisors. The Board upheld the appeal, reversed the Planning Commission’s decision to exempt the project from full environmental review, and instructed the developers to evaluate its impacts on blue-collar businesses and affordable housing. The Planning Department then applied the same standard to a number of pipeline projects, effectively initiating a two-year moratorium until a comprehensive plan for the area was developed.

The Eastern Neighborhoods Plan was approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2009, at a time when the real estate market had collapsed.  The Plan emerged from what many considered to be an exhaustive community engagement process that identified a number of laudable objectives. The Showplace Square/Potrero Area Plan sought to balance light industrial, knowledge sector and design space to provide “good jobs” for residents and a significant amount of new housing for a diverse range of household incomes. It promised “a comprehensive package of public benefits” and rezoned much of the land in the Potrero Flats and Showplace Square to Production, Distribution and Repair (PDR) and Urban Mixed Use (UMU).

But the Plan had no mechanism to deliver on most of its promises, particularly those supporting mixed land uses and providing the public amenities necessary for complete, livable neighborhoods.

The idea was, since industrial land was inexpensive, conversion to UMU zoning would provide a viable means for developers to build affordable housing. A requirement that PDR be included within UMU projects was stripped out. In the end, speculators got a free pass to build more profitable, entirely residential projects; Showplace Square and Potrero Hill ended up with “anything goes” zoning markedly similar to what’d been allowed under Live/Work legislation… (more)

Cheap affordable land with too-good-to-be-true deals for developers. This does sound like the “live/work” tax exemptions from an earlier era, but, the live-works had a minuscule displacement effect compared to the UMU conversions and other city policies and priorities, and, now we have the state bearing down on us demanding even more development.

My question for the state senate candidates:

“Given the push-back against displacement and forced lifestyle changes brought on by the Eastern Neighborhood Plan, and the opposition in other parts of the city to dense housing, loss of back yards, traffic and parking issues, if the voters show clear opposition to the Governor’s plan, what will you do if elected to the state Senate? Will you support the will of the people of San Francisco or will you support the Governor?”

395 housing units, one of biggest projects in Potrero Hill, wins final approval

By Roland Li : bizjournals – excerpt

A 395-unit housing project, one of the biggest ever proposed in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood, won final approval at the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday in a contentious three-hour hearing. Opposition to the project underscored continued backlash against development in the area, which has seen a building boom with over 3,000 units approved or in the pipeline following the 2009 Eastern Neighborhoods Plan.

The Board of Supervisors voted 9-1 to uphold the environmental review of the project, comprised of two buildings at 901 16th St. and 1200 17th St., from developers Walden Development and the Prado Group. The Board rejected an environmental appeal from neighbors of the project who opposed its size and also alleged that the city didn’t properly study the project’s environmental impacts on the community. The decision affirmed a previous Planning Commission approval of the project.

Opponents of the project said it would exacerbate overcrowded streets with new residents’ cars, demolish 109,000 square feet of existing existing light industrial space that could potentially house artists and damage views and open space.

“The environmental review for this project is inadequate and fails to accurate analyze cumulative impacts,” said Alison Heath, a local resident and member of community group Grow Potrero Responsibly, who appealed the project, at the hearing.

Heath noted that as of February, 3,315 units have been approved or in the pipeline in the Potrero Hill and Showplace Square areas, which is more than the 2009 Eastern Neighborhoods Plan anticipated. But city planners have previously said that the level of growth matches what the city expected. She called for the city to reconsider the plan and provide more resources for infrastructure, particularly transit expansion. Other nearby projects include Related California’s 299-unit 1601 Mariposa St., which is approved, and Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR)’s 1010 16th St., which is completed, as well as Equity’s One Henry Adams and 801 Brannan in the neighboring Design District… (more)

But Supervisor Aaron Peskin, the lone vote rejecting the project’s environmental review, criticized the city’s Planning Department for not fully studying the project’s impact on the area and said the department had to do better in assessing future projects.

The meeting was also marked by an unusual moment between the developer and Supervisor Malia Cohen, who represents Portrero Hill and had worked on the project’s review for years. Cohen was ultimately recused from the vote following an exchange with developer Josh Smith of Walden Development, where she called for more concessions to fund the nearby Jackson Park… (more)

Tape of the meeting is highly enlightening and slightly disturbing. http://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=10&clip_id=25889

http://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=10&clip_id=25889
Planning staff explains some things about the PDR reduction plans around (4:08:39)

Statement on the basis for rezoning PDR to UMU: is this what Peter is referring to?

“Let’s take it back to the Eastern Neighborhood Plan rezoning. Adopted in 2008, after 10 years of community conversation. The the basis of the plan was to protect industrial space, PDR. The zoning at the time was from the 1950’s. It was mushy. It allowed office as a right. It allowed housing as a right. It allowed (4:08:56 ???) housing as conditional use. It allowed retail as a right. And there was a ton of land use conflicts going on as land uses were moving next to each other and causing conflict.

We recognized the need to protect PDR jobs, blue collar jobs,. We recognized the need for housing and community benefits. And housing in concentrated areas that you could provide the transit and the parks and the child care in consolidated ways rather than disparately over a large area.

And so the Eastern Neighborhoods plan was that compromise. Half of the land that was zoned industrially became zoned PDR. Much more restrictive. No office was allowed. No retail was allowed. No housing was allowed. And the other half was approved as urban mixed use which isa neighborhood that allowed PDR, allowed some office, allowed retail, and allowed housing as of right for the first time, and also generated from the housing use a higher percentage of affordable housing than required elsewhere in the city, and also generated code benefits throughout the Eastern Neighborhoods benefit fee that was brand new of which we generate over 50 million dollars to date revenue that would not have been generated without the plan.”

RELATED: Many stories on this one, from Pokeman to serious.

Slip of the tongue: The art of squeezing developers for community benefits is nothing new in politics, especially when today’s hot real estate market gives elected officials leverage to extract cash for everything from affordable housing to parks…

395 housing units, one of biggest projects in Potrero Hill, wins final approval A 395-unit housing project, one of the biggest ever proposed in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood, won final approval at the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday in a contentious three-hour hearing. Opposition to the project underscored continued backlash against development in the area, which has seen a building boom with over 3,000 units approved or in the pipeline following the 2009 Eastern Neighborhoods Plan…
Heath noted that as of February, 3,315 units have been approved or in the pipeline in the Potrero Hill and Showplace Square areas, which is more than the 2009 Eastern Neighborhoods Plan anticipated. But city planners have previously said that the level of growth matches what the city expected. She called for the city to reconsider the plan and provide more resources for infrastructure, particularly transit expansion. Other nearby projects include Related California’s 299-unit 1601 Mariposa St., which is approved, and Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR)’s 1010 16th St., which is completed, as well as Equity’s One Henry Adams and 801 Brannan in the neighboring Design District…

Pay-to-play comment costs supervisor vote on Potrero Hill development 

San Francisco builders meet on anti-development wave

by J.K. Dineen : bizjournals – excerpt

A high-powered group of developers is meeting today to discuss the emerging anti-development movement that is taking root across San Francisco.

A month after voters rejected a condo project at 8 Washington St. by a wide margin, market-rate housing and office developers throughout the city are facing heavy opposition from residential groups concerned that the city is changing too fast and that the current wave of luxury building is catering to high-rolling tech workers rather than regular folks.

This week Gabriel Metcalf, the executive director of the urban think tank SPUR, sent an email to leaders at commercial and residential developers responsible for the bulk of the new housing and office structures currently transforming the city skyline.

These include Tishman Speyer, Kilroy Realty Corp., Shorenstein Properties, TMG Partners, Related of California, Prado Group, Strada Investment Group, Forest City, Lennar, Build Inc., Wilson Meany and the San Francisco Giants. It also includes Michael Theriault, who heads up the San Francisco Building Trades Council.

The email states: “I think we all can see the forces are gathering. I’d like to invite you to a closed session meeting to talk about 2014, the anti-growth backlash in San Francisco and what we need to be doing.”… (more)

RELATED:
Developers, officials gather to talk about backlash against S.F. growth