CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
OF THE SURPLUS CITY PROPERTY PROGRAM
CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
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Meeting Minutes
for
Monday, November 15, 2004 at 4:00 PM
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 034
Present: Chairperson Richard Lee, Vice-Chairperson James Reilly, Ms. Jamie Armstrong, Mr. Scott Clark, Supervisor Chris Daly, Ms. Jill Fox, Mr. Matthew O. Franklin, Ms. Ana B. Gutierrez and Mr. Ben Rosenfield
Absent: Sister Bernie Galvin and Mr. Leroy Moore, Jr.
Staff: Mr. Joel Lipski, Ms. Joan McNamara, Ms. Lynn Hua
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1. Roll Call
Chairperson Lee called the meeting to order at 4:15 PM. Roll call was conducted and a quorum was recognized, with Sister Bernie Galvin and Mr. Leroy Moore, Jr. absent. Ms. Jamie Armstrong arrived at 4:25 PM and left at 4:55 PM.
2. Approval of Minutes of Last Meeting
A motion to approve the November 3, 2004 meeting minutes was made by Vice-Chairperson Reilly and seconded by Mr. Rosenfield. The committee unanimously approved the motion.
3. Director’s Report
None
4. Consideration of Main Menu
(a) Broadway/Sansome Site
Ms. Teresa Yanga, Senior Project Manager at the Mayor’s Office of Housing, gave a presentation on the 201 Broadway site. The site is located in the Northeast Waterfront district and was the site of a former on-ramp to the Embarcadero Freeway before it was demolished. Currently, half of the site is used as a surface parking lot by the owner of an adjacent property at 735 Battery St. The other half of the site is vacant land. Currently the site is zoned C-2 (Community Business District), which means retail, office, restaurant and residential uses are permitted. The nearest residential zoning RC-4 (Residential-Commercial Combined, High Density) can be used for this particular zoning area. If RC-4 zoning is used, approximately 89 dwelling units of housing would be permitted on the site. The density could be doubled for senior or disabled housing to approximately 178 units. Group housing such as SROs would be permitted at an even higher density, with up to 255 units. The site has a 65 ft. height limit which would allow a 6-story building on the site. Although the dwelling unit density allow for a lot more, in reality what could be built is less than what is permitted given the limitation on floor area ratio, open space requirements, slope of the site, etc.
Ms. Yanga pointed out some key issues concerning the Broadway site. In 1991, SB181 was adopted by the State Senate, which requires all sale proceeds of the site be used to fund the Mid-Embarcadero Roadway Project. Although the Department of Public Works (DPW) declared the site surplus, there was with the expectation that the site would be sold to repay a $3.0 million loan for the Mid-Embarcadero Roadway Project. Another issue to note is that the San Francisco Police Department and the adjacent property owner are interested in the site. The Police Department is interested in developing the site for a new Central Police Station, which would replace the station at 766 Vallejo Street. The owner of 735 Battery Street is interested in purchasing the site to retain parking for its office tenants and possibly develop more office space in the future.
Ms. Amy Brown, Deputy City Attorney, explained that SB181 required the city to either use the right of way that was transferred to the city or proceeds from sale of the right of way be used for the construction of the Embarcadero Roadway Project. Ms. Brown added that a lawsuit was brought against the City in connection with the below market rate sale of 810 Battery, a parcel that was beneath the former off-ramp of the Embarcadero Freeway on which Chinatown Community Development Center plans to develop affordable housing. In the lawsuit, the City argued that the parcel could be sold at below market rate in part because other parcels such as this one were expected to generate sufficient revenue to pay for the Embarcadero Roadway Project.
Captain Albert Pardini of the Police Department’s Planning Division, commented that in 1999, a resolution by the Board of Supervisor gave the department until June 30 of 2005 to acquire the parcel. The Police Department is looking into the possibility of trading their Third Street parcel for one of the Fire Department surplus property site and using the proceeds from the sale to acquire the Broadway site. Captain Pardini added that a new central police station site is needed because the current one on Vallejo Street is too small, has no community room, was not built to accommodate female locker rooms and is unsafe since it is located underneath a public parking garage.
Mr. Minton Newell, owner of 735 Battery Street, commented that his building tenants use the lower portion of the Broadway site for parking. He would like to maintain the parking lot and is interested in working with the City to come up with a solution.
Supervisor Daly inquired if it would be possible for the City to long-term lease the Broadway parcel. Ms. Brown responded that the City may long-term lease the parcel if proceeds from the lease are used to repay financing for the Embarcadero Roadway Project.
Vice-Chairperson Reilly pointed out that it would make a difference to developers if the land is free or if the developers have to come up with $3 million to pay for the Mid-Embarcadero Roadway Project. Mr. Rosenfield commented that since the parcel is worth approximately $5 million, a possibility might be to sell a portion of the parcel at market rate to pay off the $3 million loan owed to the Department of Public Works and use the other portion of the parcel for housing.
Supervisor Daly asked what the average cost per unit would be if the land is free. Mr. Lipski responded that a formal study of the site has not been done; but in general, the cost to develop a multiple bedroom unit suitable for families, including land, is approximately $250,000 to $300,000. For smaller units, such as SROs or senior housing, the cost is a little less than $200,000.
Mr. Franklin suggested that one possible option is to make a recommendation based on the suitability of the site for housing subject to clarification and more information regarding the $3 million needed by the Department of Public Works to repay a loan for the Mid-Embarcadero Roadway Project.
Vice-Chairperson Reilly inquired if the Board of Supervisors needs to approve the Request for Proposal (RFP) before it could be issued. Ms. Brown responded that the Mayor’s Office of Housing (MOH) may solicit applications without further action by the Board of Supervisors. After applications are received and with inputs from the Citizens’ Advisory Committee, MOH would go back to the Board of Supervisors to make recommendations on the disposition of the properties.
Public Comment
None
Vice-Chairperson Reilly made a motion to direct staff to work with various city agencies to come up with a resolution regarding the land cost and the $3 million needed by DPW to repay a loan for the Mid-Embarcadero Roadway Project. Supervisor Daly amended the motion to include that staff minimize the land cost and try to get it down to zero. The amended motion was seconded by Mr. Franklin and passed unanimously.
Chair Lee called for a five minutes recess. Ms. Fox left the meeting at 5:20 PM. Supervisor Daly and Mr. Clark excused themselves from Item 4b due to conflict of interest. No quorum was presented.
(b) 150 Otis Street Site
Ms. Joan McNamara, Project Manager from the Mayor’s Office of Housing, gave a presentation on the 150 Otis Street site. The building is currently being used by the Department of Human Services (DHS) to store possessions belonging to homeless individuals and to store computer equipment. The department has received a state grant to renovate the first floor of the building to a temporary shelter. Since the building is currently zoned P (Public), it would need to be rezoned to the nearest residential designation of RM-1 (Residential, Mixed Districts, Low Density) to accommodate housing use. RM-1 would allow approximately 23 units of housing, a density that may be doubled for seniors or disable housing. Group housing such as SROs would be permitted at an even higher density, with up to 68 rooms. The building is 43,000 sq. ft. and 9-stories high above a parking basement. It is 88 years old and is under review for the city landmark status, which means that all exterior elements of the building must be preserved. Since it’s an old building, a number of items would need to be upgrade or replaced such as the fire sprinkler alarm system, staircases, elevators, windows, heating system, electrical system and plumbing system.
Ms. Kim Fergison, from the Department of Human Services, added that the department plans to use the $475,000 grant from the state to convert the first floor to a temporary homeless shelter for adult men only. There might be future plans to renovate the second floor into a shelter to house homeless women. DHS is in support of converting the top floors of the building into housing for homeless and low-income persons, but would like to retain occupancy of the first two floors for a homeless shelter and storage program.
Mr. Clark inquired if the state grant is specifically for seniors. Mr. David Curto, from the Department of Human Services, responded that the grant application was only for a shelter and no specific population was mentioned.
Mr. Franklin commented that the suggested upgrades for the building could be costly and further investigation by staff might be needed to determine the feasibility of the project. Mr. Lipski responded that some of the repairs would be costly. The building is not an unreinforced masonry building, but it’s approximately 100 years old with very old concrete steel. In order for it to be habitable, staff would recommend that some voluntary seismic upgrades be done. Mr. Lipski pointed out that the three lower floors are larger than the top six floors. The lower floors are approximately 4,200 sq. ft. and 40 ft. wide, whereas the top six floors are only 30 ft. wide.
Vice-Chairperson Reilly inquired what are the actual size of the lot and the footprint of the building. Mr. Curto responded that the lot is approximately 20,383 sq. ft., with the three bottom floors measuring 4,914 sq. ft. each and the top six floors measuring 3,276 sq. ft. each. Vice-Chairperson Reilly asked for clarification on the actual parcel that was transferred to the Mayor’s Office of Housing jurisdiction. Mr. Lipski responded that the plaza located beside the building is part of the site that was transferred to MOH’s jurisdiction and is currently being used by DHS as an egress into 170 Otis. Mr. Lipski added that for the next meeting, staff would get clarification on the actual parcels that were transferred to MOH’s jurisdiction and if it included the parking garage underneath the building.
Public Comment
Ms. Leiasa Beckham, of the San Francisco Community Land Trust, inquired about the interior staircases and if there is grandfathering in historic building.
Mr. Jim Parker commented that the building does not seem to have much architectural significant to qualify it for landmark status. If the renovation cost for the building is too high, then maybe it would make more sense to demolish the whole building and build a new one.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:20 PM.