07. Economic + Neighborhood Development
Emerging Projects
| Project Name | Description |
| OCII - Mission Bay | A potential need that is emerging is that the Community Facilities District #5 fees may not fully cover the maintenance and operation of the Mission Bay park system once the system is fully constructed. The actual cost of maintaining the parks is exceeding the originally estimated amount used to calculate the maximum fee allowed by Community Facilities District #5. As a result, there may be limited funds available for capital improvements to the parks as they age and require on-going improvements. |
| OCII - Transbay | Full maintenance funding for the Under Ramp Parking (URP) project has not been confirmed, as the projected revenues from the Community Facilities District may be insufficient to cover all of the maintenance, security, and property management costs associated with a 2.5 acre park. The principal landowner of the URP project, the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, is exploring alternative fundraising options. |
| OCII - Shipyard/Candlestick | Primary funding sources for the following projects have not yet been identified: arts center, Hunters Point historic commemoration of the Drydocks, the eight acres of community facilities parcels, Building 101 upgrades, additional fire station, and full funding of a school site. OCII envisions that these projects may be funded through a combination of local, state and federal grants or loans, philanthropic funds, master leases or development agreements, or funds derived from the project’s Community Benefits Fund. |
| Planning - Racial and Social Equity | The Planning Department proactively works to advance racial and social equity at three major levels: • Completion and implementation of the Racial and Social Equity Action Plan across all divisions. • Application of an equity impact assessment tool to all of our community plans and planning processes; and revision of the San Francisco General Plan and Planning Code to incorporate policies that directly address the needs of American Indian, Black and other communities of color. • Development of community strategies focused on cultural resources, economic vitality, and housing affordability. |
| Planning - Showplace/ SoMa Neighborhood Analysis and Coordination Study (SNACS) |
Several area plans and projects are positioning the Showplace/ SoMa area for long-term change. The SNACS will identify strategies to coordinate these efforts, including potential opportunities to support neighborhood goals for increasing housing, PDR jobs, and public space access. While parts of the study were paused due to COVID-19, by early 2021 the project will provide a 10-year update to the Showplace Square Open Space Plan and identify additional public space opportunities in western SoMa. |
| Planning - South Downtown Design + Activation (Soda) | The Planning Department, SF Public Works, SFMTA, OCII, and the East Cut Community Benefit District are wrapping up a planning process that will create a comprehensive vision for the design, implementation, and stewardship of the public spaces within Transit Center and Rincon Hill (together, “South Downtown”). A major component of this effort will be to holistically prioritize Rincon Hill and Transit Center streetscape and open space projects that are not yet underway. The plan is largely completed. The City anticipates environmental clearance to be completed by Spring 2021 and final adoption in late 2021. |
| Port – Embarcadero Historic Piers | Many of the Port’s one-of-a-kind facilities in the Embarcadero Historic District need repair and remain closed to the public. In the fall of 2018, the Port of San Francisco issued a Request for Interest (RFI) to gather feedback about how to rehabilitate and preserve 16 historic facilities in need of significant investment. Through the RFI, the Port sought creative ideas on how these historic piers can be accessible, resilient, and enjoyable. The Port received 52 unique responses to the RFI. Based upon the favorable input received from the RFI, the Port Commission authorized staff to release a Request for Proposals (RFP) to seek development partners to invest and activate the piers with a mix of uses including revenue generating uses (commercial and PDR uses) and public-oriented uses (public access, retail, restaurants, cultural, and community space). Historic pier rehabilitation provides opportunities for economic, cultural, and public improvements and attracts investments for vital capital and seismic upgrades. The Port identified three sets of piers to advance, including Piers 38 and 40 (South Beach Piers), Piers 19-23, 29-31 (Northern Waterfront Piers) and eventually Pier 26 & 28. The Port released the Piers 38 and 40 RFP in January 2020 and in March received two responses. The Port used a scoring panel to rank the responses and in August 2020 the Port Commission authorized staff to negotiate an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement with Pacific Waterfront Partners. The proposal includes a mix of uses as described above along with water recreation facilities and suite of commercial maritime uses. The proposal also includes improvements to address and assist with the Port and City’s resilience program including improvements to the seawall and design features to address sea level rise. Port staff anticipates that negotiations, entitlements and design for the project could take 24-36 months and that construction would begin in 2023 or 2024. Due to the COVID-19, Port staff expect to release the next RFP for the northern waterfront piers in early- to mid-2021. |
| Port – Waterfront Resilience Program | The Waterfront Resilience Program includes the Embarcadero Seawall Program (Seawall Program), the Flood Resiliency Study (Flood Study) and related resilience planning and implementation efforts for the Port’s entire 7.5 miles of waterfront property. Phase I of the Seawall Program is a first step on the multi-generational and multi-billion dollar project to improve the Embarcadero Seawall for greater resilience in the face of earthquakes, floods, sea level rise and climate hazards. It will focus on making improvements to protect life safety, support regional disaster response and recovery efforts, and help protect the historic waterfront. Phase I will implement the most immediate life safety upgrades to the Embarcadero Seawall at select locations and plan for additional work to ensure a resilient waterfront for 2100 and beyond. The Port will implement the Seawall Program over several decades and will require federal, state, and local permitting and funding to complete the effort. In 2017, the City convened a Seawall Finance Working Group to analyze sources and recommend a funding plan for the Program. The funding plan included a $425 million General Obligation Bond, which was overwhelmingly approved by voters in November 2018. Additionally, the Port secured a $5 million appropriation from the State of California for the Seawall Program. The Port has also partnered with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for the Flood Resiliency Study, where the Port and USACE each committed $1.5 million to study flood risk along San Francisco’s 7.5 mile waterfront. This USACE appropriation represents the beginning of the General Investigation process that will culminate in a recommendation to Congress regarding additional federal funding to possibly support the Seawall Program and other areas at risk to flooding along the Port’s jurisdiction. The Port is also pursuing state and federal support as well as private contributions through special taxes to ensure a safe and inspiring waterfront for generations to come. To date, the Port has secured approvals of shoreline special taxes for the Pier 70 and Mission Rock projects to address sea level rise and flood risk on Port property. The cost of Phase I of the Embarcadero Seawall Program is approximately $500 million through FY2027. Of that Phase I scope, all but $54 million has been secured through a combination of G.O. Bond and local sources, and the Port continues to seek state and federal sources for the balance remaining. |
| Port – Conditional Seismic Costs | Renewal work on the Port’s piers for a project that changes the use or substantially increases the occupancy or size of the facility may require a seismic upgrade to comply with code. The seismic cost estimate in the Port’s Ten-Year Capital Plan represents a conservative approach in terms of the total potential cost for repair work. Conditional seismic work on these facilities are estimated to cost approximately $600 million. |
| TIDA – Public Buildings Renovations | TICD has the option under the DDA to enter into long-term master leases for Building 1 and Hangars 2 and 3 on Treasure Island and the Senior Officers’ Quarters Historic District on Yerba Buena Island. Under the master leases, TIDA anticipates assigning responsibility to the lessee for the renewal, improvement, and preservation of these facilities. Depending upon the extent of work required, however, supplemental investment may be required to preserve the buildings and facilitate their reuse. TIDA will be performing condition and needs assessments to inform leasing negotiations and future capital planning efforts. Another historic building within TIDA’s holdings is known as the Torpedo House, which is also listed on the Federal Register of Historic Places. Currently, the building is a bare concrete structural shell. As a mitigation for demolishing a historic Coast Guard structure as part of the TIMMA-managed eastbound on- and off-ramp project, the project will replace the roof, windows and doors of the Torpedo House. Adjacent to the site, Caltrans has developed a new public space known as the Bimla Rhinehart Vista Point. Instead of imploding the last pier of the former eastern span of the Bay Bridge (Pier E-2), Caltrans elected to keep it, cut it down to lower its elevation, and construct a land bridge. The finished site includes public picnic tables, seating, and offers a vantage point on the Bay and the new Bay Bridge span. The Vista Point should provide a complimentary attraction to the future reuse of the Torpedo House. |
| TIDA – Navy Structures to Remain | In addition to the public buildings discussed above, a limited number of other existing structures – the former Navy chapel, gymnasium, and Pier 1 – will be preserved through development. Pier 1 is to be programmed to be a public access/recreational space and the gymnasium will continue to be a recreational facility for island residents. As with the other public buildings, TIDA will be making condition and needs assessments of each of these facilities to inform future capital planning efforts. |
| TIDA – School Site | While the Naval Station on Treasure Island was operational, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) operated an elementary school on the base. Under the DDA and related documents, the site of former school was to be made available to SFUSD to develop a K-5 or K-8 facility. TICD is obligated to make a payment of $5 million towards the development of the new school, and TIDA has been in discussion with SFUSD facilities staff regarding the potential programming, funding, and schedule for a new school on Treasure Island. These conversations have included SFUSD potentially leasing the site prior to the development of the new school. |
| Multiple Departments – Alemany Farmers’ Market | The Alemany Farmers’ Market was founded in 1943 and is a vitally important option for San Franciscans to access affordable, healthy produce. It occupies a 3.5-acre parcel that is unused five days a week and is surrounded by several other publicly owned parcels. The Market is under the jurisdiction of the Real Estate Division, and the City is currently undergoing an interagency effort to envision potential future land use opportunities at the site, including affordable housing. This effort will include planning and design work to ensure the continued operation of the Market, additional infrastructure to accommodate pedestrian and bicycle access to the site, feasibility studies, and community engagement with surrounding neighborhoods. |
