Posted May 29, 2009, 3:06 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: San Francisco & Tucson
Posts: 24,088
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Quote:
Friday, May 29, 2009
AvalonBay gets OK for $65M Balboa project in S.F.
Development includes 173 apartments, grocer
San Francisco Business Times - by J.K. Dineen
AvalonBay has won San Francisco Planning Commission approval for its $65 million, 173-unit apartment complex on Ocean Avenue, a project the city hopes will spur more housing and retail development in San Francisco’s Balboa Park area.
The development, which will include a 28,000-square-foot grocery store, will replace the Kragen auto parts store and parking lot at 1150 Ocean Ave. The 1.8-acre site just south of Phelan Avenue and abutting the city college campus, is the first project approved under the Balboa Park rezoning the Board of Supervisors adopted in April.
AvalonBay Senior Development Director Meg Spriggs said the company hopes to start construction on the two-building complex at the end of 2010 or the first quarter of 2011. Construction would likely take about 18 months, meaning that the project would open in 2012 at the earliest.
AvalonBay has been one of San Francisco’s most active developers over the past decade, completing 823 rental units in Mission Bay north, a $400 million investment. With that neighborhood mostly built out, AvalonBay has been actively looking at other neighborhoods, including the city-owned Block 8 on Folsom Street.
At the Ocean Avenue site, the developer was drawn to the rich public transit — downtown is a 13-minute ride from the Balboa Park BART station — and proximity of schools including City College, Balboa High School and the private school Lick Wilmerding, according to Spriggs. Given the college campus and rich public transportation options, “there is little to no supply of higher-density rental housing in this part of San Francisco,” said Spriggs.
“It’s a great urban infill location and the beauty of it is the bones are already there. The infrastructure is already there. There are tons of little neighborhoods and a nice little business district along Ocean Avenue,” said Spriggs.
AvalonBay has yet to sign on a grocery store to occupy the ground floor of the project. Matt Holmes of the brokerage Retail West has been retained to to lease the space. Peter Waller of Pyatok is the architect.
“We have been pleasantly surprised by the level of initial interest in the space and we have had several meaningful conversations with retailers,” said Spriggs.
AvalonBay started working with the Planning Department in 2005 when the Balboa Park master plan was in its early stages. Because they were involved so early, AvalonBay’s project specific environmental impact report was included in the master environmental impact report for the neighborhood.
“Our goal was to get behind the plan, design our project collaboratively with the city and the community and be in a position to get our project approvals as soon as the Balboa Park plan was approved,” said Spriggs.
Matt Holmes said the site has attractive densities and attractive demographics with over 35 percent college graduates. “The demographics are there already, they really are. The design of the space is outstanding. They have really built a great mousetrap there,” he said.
Email J.K. Dineen at jkdineen@bizjournals.com / (415) 288-4971
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Source: http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/...01/story7.html
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