View Single Post
  #30  
Old Posted Jan 22, 2004, 9:45 AM
FourOneFive FourOneFive is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: New York City
Posts: 1,911
From last week's San Francisco Chronicle:

Tower projects get key backer
Supervisor Daly supports plan for Rincon Hill


John King, Chronicle Urban Design Writer
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Developers seeking to build four residential towers near the Bay Bridge gained a major ally Monday: the supervisor whose district includes the two blocks of Folsom Street where the towers would rise.

As originally planned, the projects known as 201 Folsom and 300 Spear streets would require the creation of roughly 235 affordable housing units based on current city requirements.

On Monday, however, developers agreed to Supervisor Chris Daly's request for new benchmarks that would increase the number of subsidized units by nearly 50 percent.

"By my math that translates to around 95 (additional) units" reserved for lower-income workers and families, Daly said late Monday afternoon.

"At this point, I am supporting the projects. ... I made what I thought was a pretty big ask, and the developers responded positively."

Daly is only one of 11 supervisors who will vote on whether to lift zoning restrictions on the two sites so that developers, Union Property Capital and Tishman Speyer Properties, can build a quartet of 35- and 40-story towers set atop a base of six- to eight-story structures.

But his support looms large because the construction projects are located within his district, which means other supervisors are likely to take cues from his stance.

The supervisor has raised other concerns about the two projects, including their scale and the fact that one includes enclosed above-ground parking for the U.S. Postal Service, which has a major facility next to the 201 Folsom site.

But with the pledge for additional subsidized housing, Daly said he believed the projects should now go forward.

Developers could not be reached for comment Monday. In the past, however, they have stressed their desire to work with city officials, residents and various interest groups to make 201 Folsom and 300 Spear as widely accepted as possible.

The two projects are the largest yet proposed for the area known as Rincon Hill, a former industrial district that San Francisco officials have earmarked for high-density housing.

Since 1985, roughly 1,400 apartments and condominiums have been built in the Rincon Hill area, with no tower higher than 27 stories.

By contrast, 300 Spear and 201 Folsom are now projected to include a combined 1,640 units.

The projects were to be reviewed Monday by the Board of Supervisors' Land Use Committee.

That hearing was postponed and now is scheduled for Jan. 26.

E-mail John King at jking@sfchronicle.com.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So these projects will go before the Land Use Committee next Monday, and then go before the full board Tuesday, January 27th!

Keep your fingers crossed!!!
Reply With Quote