Bay Area Proposals/Approvals/Construction Tidbits II

[Frisco_Zig]

Originally Posted by Richard Mlynarik

Beats me.

There are many other ways of being urbane and civilized (none of which SF has attained, of course) beyound or besides HK.

I have no love of Hong Kong as an urban development model.
It's a great and exciting place, but there are other ways to do things, and ways I'd prefer to see them done if I'm to live with the results.

I also have no great love of most of the extraordinarily mediocre and largely ill-considered high-rise buildings which are enthused about by the bigger is better crowd here, if for no reason than that they are effectively impossible to demolish, unlike your average piece of 3 story SF — (at least until it reaches all of 10 years old and gets into the hands of "historic preservationists"...)

Hong Kong, Vancouver, or Foster City? Those are my only choices?

Though I understand your points to my mind there are 2-3 areas in SF where new residential high rise buildings would be appropriate this is one. The sort of density that you're an advocate for seems to not be politically possible on any helpful scale

I don't see anything ill considered about this building or its setting.

[viewguysf]

Originally Posted by Richard Mlynarik

Beats me.

There are many other ways of being urbane and civilized (none of which SF has attained, of course) beyound or besides HK.

I also have no great love of most of the extraordinarily mediocre and largely ill-considered high-rise buildings which are enthused about by the bigger is better crowd here, if for no reason than that they are effectively impossible to demolish, unlike your average piece of 3 story SF — (at least until it reaches all of 10 years old and gets into the hands of "historic preservationists"...)

One does not deserve to live here if one fails to realize that San Francisco is urbane and civilized in a plethora of ways. How jaded can one possibly become? It's true that architecturally we are not Chicago, yet in many other ways we are far advanced, greatly civilized and exist in a very urbane environment. In totality, San Francisco is one of the great cities of the world and has been internationally recognized for its high quality of life and beauty. Jettison the bitterness and indulge yourself in what is offered here in our stunning corner of the planet. Where it is weak or in need, work to make it better in a positive manner.

[coyotetrickster]

Originally Posted by viewguysf

One does not deserve to live here if one fails to realize that San Francisco is urbane and civilized in a plethora of ways. How jaded can one possibly become? It's true that architecturally we are not Chicago, yet in many other ways we are far advanced, greatly civilized and exist in a very urbane environment. In totality, San Francisco is one of the great cities of the world and has been internationally recognized for its high quality of life and beauty. Jettison the bitterness and indulge yourself in what is offered here in our stunning corner of the planet. Where it is weak or in need, work to make it better in a positive manner.

Evidently, some folks prefer to stay jaded. There is always room for improvement, anywhere, but broadside dismissals without any substantiation, well, I'll call the Dept. of Justice for that.

[SFView]

San Francisco may not be Chicago, but a little bit of Chicago is moving to San Francisco - Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SBC) http://www.scb.com/

Here is an article from California Construction Magazine - May 2007. Much of the article is old news to SSP:
http://california.construction.com/features/archive/0705_Cover.asp

Cover Story - May 2007
San Francisco Market Report


Sleek and Stylish

New high-rise towers reshape San Francisco's skyline

By Robert Carlsen

While homebuilders across the country wring their hands over slumping housing starts, developers in San Francisco are applauding the anticipated sellout of at least two of three major residential high-rise buildings now under construction.

These three projects - One Rincon Hill, The Infinity and Millennium Tower - are kicking off the redevelopment and reimagination of two neighboring neighborhoods south of Market Street - Rincon Hill and the Transbay Terminal.

The Rincon Hill Plan, adopted by the Board of Supervisors and signed by Mayor Gavin Newsom in August 2005, envisions housing for as many as 20,000 new residents, retail shops and neighborhood services along Folsom Street; and transforming Main, Beale and Spear streets into "traffic-calmed, landscaped residential streets lined with town homes and front doors."

The first of the new Rincon developments is the two-tower One Rincon Hill project, which is being built by Bovis Lend Lease with a design by Chicago's Solon Cordwell Buenz & Associates. The first phase is the taller tower, 62 stories (the other is 45 stories); the entire project is expected to cost about $270 million.

Attached to the first, southern tower will be a podium parking garage surrounded by town homes. The town homes will be two-stories from the ground floor and three stories on top with their own elevators. An interior park and pool will flesh out the podium building.

Mike Kriozere, principal for the project's developer, San Diego's Urban West Associates, boasted that 90 percent of the south tower's 390 units were sold within the first two weeks of coming on the market in January.

"With a high-end product, that is usually the case, and San Francisco is a city of high-end buyers," Kriozere adds.

Units remaining range from $600,000 to $1.2 million; the 14 town homes around the south tower podium start at $1.4 million.

Kriozere says construction on the north tower and adjacent podium buildings will start before the south tower is complete in early 2008.

John Lahey, president of Solon Cordwell Buenz & Associates and principal in charge of One Rincon Hill, says his firm's experience with tall buildings, both in his hometown of Chicago and elsewhere in the country, made it a natural to create what the Rincon Hill Plan requires as "tall, slender and well-spaced buildings."

"The main issues with highrises in San Francisco revolve around seismic needs," Lahey says. "It's a big design factor."

Working with structural engineer Magnusson Klemencic Associates of Seattle, Bovis and SCB are introducing a technology that functions to reduce sway from earthquakes and strong winds. One Rincon Hill is the first building in the country to feature a tuned liquid damper system, which is a water tank at the top of the building.

Lahey says the design also utilizes outriggers that allow large openings and maximum glass for every unit. "From every unit, you can look straight down with no obstructions in the frame," he adds.

Lahey says his firm's experience also helped in developing an urban ambience to the project.

In following the neighborhood's design plan, "we wanted to do something on the urban level that interacts with the street … a simple, easily recognizable form, elegant and vertical," he adds.

Lahey says SCB is opening an office in San Francisco and hopes to work on more buildings like One Rincon Hill.

The Infinity is also within the Rincon Hill Plan, and Carl Shannon, managing director of developer Tishman Speyer, says sales are "far in excess in what we anticipated at this point."
|
The 656-unit Infinity project is nearing completion of its first of two planned towers going up in two phases. The first-phase, 37-story tower features 237 units, and the project also includes eight- and nine-story adjacent podium buildings with 120 units and amenities.

This 1,736-acre mixed-use development at 300 Spear Street, down the hill from One Rincon Hill, will also have a 41-story tower.

Webcor Builders is the general contractor. The architects include Heller Manus of San Francisco and Arquitectonica of Miami.

"We're thrilled at the number of units sold so far and the pricing we've been able to achieve," Shannon says. "We've been selling six to seven units per week now, and we even recently raised prices."

Shannon, like Lahey, equates the popularity of the high-rise units to wealthy people looking to buy maybe a second, or third, home. "San Francisco is an incredibly desirable place to live," he says.

The few units remaining for sale range from studios at $595,000 to three-bedrooms at $1.065 million.

(It's also important to note that both these Rincon project developers have paid the city tens of millions of dollars to offset the city's requirement for a percentage of affordable units made available in every new project. The city in return is using the money to fund affordable-only projects in needy areas.)

Meanwhile, the mayor and city are putting a lot of emphasis on the Transbay Transit Center redevelopment project. Plans call for high-rise residential and commercial space surrounding a new transit facility, which will accommodate light rail, Caltrain and local and regional transit buses.

"The city and the region badly need new housing close to jobs and transportation as an alternative to suburban sprawl," says Marcia Rosen, executive director of the city's Redevelopment Agency. "The new high-density, transit-oriented development in the Transbay Redevelopment Project Area will include six new residential highrises that will address the city's housing needs in a balanced, livable neighborhood with towers far enough apart to allow sunlight and open space in the new neighborhood, and controls to ensure that ground-floor space is activated.

"This new residential neighborhood will be a mixed-income neighborhood, with 35 percent of the new housing units permanently affordable for low and moderate income households."

The first of the projects is the Millennium Tower at Mission between Fremont and Beale streets, across from the current Transbay Terminal facility.

Scheduled for a late 2008 completion, the $400 million building rises 58 stories and features 420 one-, two- and three-bedroom units plus two penthouses. The Millennium also features a two-story glass atrium, 8,000 sq ft of retail, a five-level underground parking garage and enclosed pool and spa area.

The developer of the Millennium Tower is New York-based Millennium Partners. The general contractor is Webcor Builders, and the architect is Handel Architects.

"Similar to the making of the Four Seasons on Market Street, Millennium Tower will change the face of the Tranbay Terminal for the better," says Glenn Rescalvo, partner and project architect for Handel Architects.

"It will bring luxury living to part of San Francisco that even born and raised San Franciscan couldn't have imagined."

Rescalvo says the Millennium Tower is also critical in making an urban connection between what his firm refers to as the financial district to the newly developed Rincon Hill area.

"This project will start the 24/7 lifestyle that is desperately needed in the part of San Francisco," he adds. "It will bring more commerce, more pedestrians and revitalize this district."

To further the redevelopment and get some buzz going, the city is sponsoring an international design competition for the new transit center itself and an adjacent mixed-use high-rise.

A number of local and regional architectural firms are interested in this project, including Skidmore Owings & Merrill, SMWM and Heller/Manus. Even famed architect Renzo Piano has a team involved.

The two-stage competition is expected to take a total of 36 months, with the winning team announced in August.

The first phase of the project begins with the building of the temporary terminal, commencing in 2008, to serve passengers while the new Transit Center is under construction. Construction of the new Transit Center and complementary Transit Tower is scheduled to begin in 2010 and be completed in 2014.

This first phase of the project includes design and construction of the Transit Center building, the rail foundation, bus ramps, and bus storage facilities, and design of the underground rail level component of the Transit Center.

The second phase of the project, the construction of the Caltrain Downtown Rail Extension, is estimated to begin in 2012 and be completed and operational by 2018, or earlier, if funding allows.

The project's capital cost is estimated at $3.4 billion.

[coyotetrickster]

"This 1,736-acre mixed-use development at 300 Spear Street, down the hill from One Rincon Hill, will also have a 41-story tower."

Is this right? 300 Spear cannot possible have 1,736 acres as part of it's development 'footprint.' Golden Gate Park is about 1,000 acres. Who's smoking crack in the fact checking department?

[mthd]

Originally Posted by coyotetrickster

"This 1,736-acre mixed-use development at 300 Spear Street, down the hill from One Rincon Hill, will also have a 41-story tower."

Is this right? 300 Spear cannot possible have 1,736 acres as part of it's development 'footprint.' Golden Gate Park is about 1,000 acres. Who's smoking crack in the fact checking department?

maybe they use the same fact checkers as the business times?!?!?!?!?

[BTinSF]

^^^My guess is the comma should have been a period. As in 1.736.

[coyotetrickster]

Originally Posted by BTinSF

^^^My guess is the comma should have been a period. As in 1.736.

Hello Copy editor.

[fflint]

Journalists nostalgic as the Trib exits Tower

Chip Johnson
The San Francisco Chronicle
Friday, May 18, 2007

The news deadline at the Oakland Tribune tonight will mark not only the end of another workday. It will be the end of an era for a newspaper that for nearly a century has occupied a landmark building with a clock tower that has defined the city's skyline.

Trib reporters, editors and some advertising staff members will report for work Monday at new digs -- one floor of an 11-story office building in an industrial business tract across the freeway from McAfee Coliseum.

The Tribune Tower at 13th and Franklin streets will keep its name and the clock tower, but for veteran journalists, including some who cut their teeth working out of the old building, the move is like a death in the family.

"I have to admit that the new office we're moving into is very nice, probably the nicest quarters I've ever had, but nothing can replace the charm and mystery the Tribune Tower held," police reporter Harry Harris said Thursday.

I worked in the tower 15 years ago. So did my editor, and many current and former colleagues.

The Tribune became a symbol of the decline of newspapers and their struggle for survival long before the World Wide Web took hold -- and long before free, online advertising stole our lunch and a new generation of media consumers logged on to their laptops for the latest headlines and gossip.

Our newsroom back then was scrappy and bold, just like Oakland. We thought we could compete with any news media outlet in the country, never mind its resources -- or our lack of them.

"The tower, like the middle finger, was our logo, and now that it's a shell, we can acknowledge the end of an era," commented Al Martinez, a longtime columnist for the Los Angeles Times who worked as a Tribune reporter before that.

Martinez is just the tip of the iceberg of the talent that has passed through the newspaper over the years. In 1990, the Trib won a Pulitzer Prize for its photographs of the deadly collapse of the Cypress Freeway in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

The quake didn't knock down the 20-story tower, built in the early 1920s and laced with steel, but it left its mark. The elevators were knocked out, and there were cracks in the walls everywhere -- which were patched over with duct tape for awhile.

Harris has worked at the paper since he was 17 years old. His mother told him three years ago he was conceived in the building. His father, Albert "Kayo" Harris, worked as a Tribune photographer in the 1930s and ran a commercial photo business after World War II, but maintained close ties with the paper.

"It's hard to accept, but you could almost see it coming," said Harris, 59, who left the tower once before, in 1992, when MediaNews bought the paper from then-publisher Robert Maynard and moved staff to Jack London Square before returning to the tower eight years later. "What makes it harder is I don't see us coming back this time."

The paper's exodus from the downtown tower is the latest move by MediaNews to consolidate its Bay Area newspaper holdings, which include the San Jose Mercury News, the Contra Costa Times and more than a dozen local newspapers.

The newspaper group is negotiating a buyout or other means to terminate its agreement to lease the tower until 2010, said Kenneth Meyersieck, a senior vice president at Colliers International, a commercial real estate company representing Eddie Kislinger, a Southern California real estate investor who bought the Tribune Tower 18 months ago.

"I met with the owner yesterday, and we're disappointed that they're leaving but it creates a new opportunity for us," Meyersieck said.

Kislinger, who purchased the building from Oakland developer John Protopappas, has a knack for entrepreneurship that dates back to his college days at UC Berkeley, where he convinced university officials in the mid-1960s to use People's Park, then a vacant lot, as parking lot for Saturday football games. He founded, and later sold, Leopold's Records, and has plans for the tower property.

The Tribune's departure leaves a huge void in the building: The newspaper took up nearly 70,000 square feet of the 89,000-square-foot building, Meyersieck said.

Kislinger has hired the San Francisco architectural firm of Page & Turnbull to come up with a plan to historically restore the lobby and interior of the building and "bring it back to life in the right way," Meyersieck said. Kislinger has already invested $500,000 in the building's exterior.

Kislinger said he purchased the building because he believes former Mayor Jerry Brown's plan to repopulate the city's downtown district is working and redevelopment will not stop.

"You hate to lose a tenant like this, but it's a tremendous opportunity for us," Kislinger said. "The building is an icon, there's an upside on rents, and my take on Oakland is that there is enormous potential there."

I sure hope so, because there's a lot of history in that old building.

[BTinSF]

$300M housing dream
John Stewart teams up to replace 'projects' with neighborhood
San Francisco Business Times - May 18, 2007
by J.K. Dineen

John Stewart has always gravitated to what he calls "brain-damage" projects: the sort of Byzantine, public-private, mixed-income housing collaborations that most developers wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole.

But when it comes to brain damage, nothing the John Stewart Co. has taken on compares with Hunters View.

In a joint venture with partners Devine & Gong and Ridgepoint Non-Profit Housing Corp., Stewart and his team are proposing to raise $300 million to demolish a 267-unit public housing project on a Hunters Point hillside and replace it with a roughly 667-unit mixed-income neighborhood.

The public housing would be replaced one for one, but the new neighborhood would also feature 80 affordable rentals, 50 below-market for-sale units, and 250 to 300 market-rate condos, which would be priced at about $425 a square foot.

The project is tough even for the Stewart Co., which manages 20,000 residential units -- many in inner city neighborhoods -- and employs 1,000. For the first time in the Bay Area, the developers are trying to replace a public housing project with private money.

In the past, public housing has been replaced using money from HOPE VI, the federal program Stewart Co. used to replace the $160 million North Beach Place. But that money is gone, cut drastically by the Bush administration, leaving company executives to scramble for new funding sources.

"How do you find a substitute for a $25 to $30 million HUD grant -- something that has been a key part of every other public housing revitalization that has taken place to date?" asked Jack Gardner, president and CEO of the John Stewart Co.

The answer, says Stewart, company founder and chairman, will be a combination of foundation money and a "cross-subsidy" that will pump money from the market-rate condo sales into the public housing rebuild.

The cost to rebuild the public housing is $80 million to $100 million. The rest of the $300 million will pay for the low-income and market-rate units. In recent months, Stewart has launched an aggressive effort to raise money from private foundations. It has been hard going.

The developer scored a coup with $2.2 million from the Ford Foundation -- a combination of loan and grant. The San Francisco Foundation, Local Initiative Support Coalition (LISC), and the Mayors Office on Housing have chipped in $1 million.

Some $4 million in predevelopment money is still needed -- the sort of early funding that used to come from HUD. Stewart hopes that prominent Bay Area philanthropists will follow the example of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which sank $50 million into rebuilding public housing in its hometown of Chicago.

"We're trying to get foundations to do what they don't want to do -- and they have stayed away from this like crazy," said Stewart. "The president killed a very fine grant program. So the question is, can we get non-government organizations to fill in for the federal government? So far they have not all flocked to us."

The North Beach model
North Beach Place has been held up as a model of turning a drug-addled, dangerous project into a healthy mixed-income community. There is even a Trader Joe's on the ground floor, the only time the grocery chain has located below public housing.

North Beach Place was built with $28 million in federal money and $10 million from the Mayor's Office of Housing. John Stewart Co. put in $48 million in equity and took out a $70 million construction loan. A total of 11 funding sources were used.

But as an urban enclave, Hunters View is a much tougher environment. While North Beach Place is surrounded by upscale neighborhoods, Hunters View is nestled in a toxic, isolated hillside economically devastated by the departure of the Navy in 1974 and environmentally ravished by both the industrial uses and a nearby power plant.

"It's nasty up here," said Tessie Ester, president of the Hunters View Tenants Association. "Asthma, roaches, rats -- most (people) are sick up here."

The history has given Hunters View residents a strong skepticism of outsiders and the John Stewart Co. has been no exception. Ester said she wonders if current residents would be allowed to stay once the project is reconstructed.

"We didn't ask for them to come up here. I think they want the hill -- this is prime land," she said.

Stewart said Hunters View tenants have been bused to North Beach Place and the reception has been largely positive.

"We take them to North Beach and say if this is gentrification, so be it," said Stewart. "They see the stacked washer dryers in their units -- not outside, not down the hall. They don't see dumpsters. They don't see graffiti. When they talk to the women who run the households, what they hear is not just the architecture, it's the security."

Gardner said the three different housing types would be built simultaneously and the developer would work closely with nonprofits to improve the adjacent Malcom X School, an under-enrolled elementary school that the city school district has threatened to close.

An isolated maze
The redevelopment is being designed by Solomon Architecture. Principal Dan Solomon, who has been involved in rebuilding dilapidated housing projects across the country, said Hunters View stands out even among depressed projects.

"Hunters View is one of the most problematic, partially because it is even more isolated and even more disconnected than many of the other distressed public housing around the country," said Solomon.

The development is a maze of long looping cul-de-sacs, both disorienting and cut off from surrounding neighbors. The new physical plan would transform the street labyrinth of the old barracks site plan into the grid of a typical city neighborhood. Street corridors will capture downtown views; small buildings would step up the hill, as they do in Telegraph Hill or Bernal Heights. Dangerous pockets of unsupervised, unowned open space will turn into well-defined areas more like Dolores Park or Alamo Square.

"Quite a lot of open space is shapeless, formless, ownerless and dangerous," said Solomon. "It's a textbook case of taking well established principals of San Francisco neighborhood planning and doing exactly the opposite.

"This is not going to magically fix everything wrong with Hunters Point -- but without fixing this, there is no hope."

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2007/05/21/story3.html?t=printable

[BTinSF]

Joie, Larkspur in final three for Presidio's hotel project
San Francisco Business Times - May 18, 2007
by Ryan Tate

Two Bay Area hotel companies are among three finalists vying to develop a 100-room lodge on coveted land in San Francisco's Presidio.

Joie de Vivre Hospitality of San Francisco and Larkspur Hospitality of Larkspur both made it through a process in which the Presidio Trust winnowed 13 contending development teams to four, one of whom has dropped out of contention.

The prize is the chance to develop and operate a park hotel that Presidio officials hope will become a landmark in the same league as the Ahwahnee, a popular lodge in Yosemite National Park. Though Presidio officials would like to offer rooms across a wide range of prices, hoteliers hope to command a premium for the location, on the waterfront adjacent to the Golden Gate Bridge and with rules freezing the amount of land under development.

"We want a place that has endurance, not a flash in the pan," said Adam Engelskirchen, the Presidio Trust's real estate director.

Larkspur is going it alone, while Joie de Vivre is teaming with attorney and entrepreneur Stephen Ledoux. Also in the running is a joint venture from two firms, Washington, DC-based developer Federal Development and Texas resort company Benchmark Hospitality.

Joie de Vivre and Larkspur are both proposing close to 100 units, while the Federal-Benchmark team is expected to come in "a fair amount larger," said Engelskirchen.

Engelskirchen based his summary of the proposals on presentations made at a public Presidio Trust meeting May 10.

All projects come close to a specified 45-foot height limit, he added.

All finalists plan to build on Anza Esplanade, a narrow strip of land in the heart of the park. They also plan to reuse historic structures on nearby but non-adjacent land.

The Federal-Benchmark team plans to make use of three historic barracks across the parking lot from Anza Esplanade.

The Presidio Trust Board of Directors expects to choose a developer by the end of June, Engelskirchen said. In addition to environmental sustainability, the board is looking for designs that maintain the character of the Presidio, and offer a good financial return to the trust.

[email protected] / (415) 288-4968

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2007/05/21/story5.html?t=printable

[BTinSF]

New science building OK'd on UC Berkeley campus
San Francisco Business Times - May 18, 2007
by Steven E.F. Brown

A new biomedical and health sciences building is set to rise on the northwest corner of the University of California, Berkeley, campus.

UC Regents approved the construction of the new building this week. It will go up after Warren Hall, an aging building which houses the public health school and library, is knocked down next year. Warren Hall is 52 years old and can't be made earthquake safe, the university said.

The new five-story building will be named the Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences. It will house laboratories, classrooms and offices used in biomedical and health research, focusing especially on the molecular basis of diseases. It will also house a brain imaging center and labs for stem cell research.

It will be a green building, with sod roofs and natural lighting to reduce electrical use.

Staff and students in the public health department will be dispersed to other locations on campus. The department's library will move to the basement of University Hall, across Oxford Street, which borders the campus on the west side.

No decision has been finalized about where the library and public health department will move permanently. A new building has been proposed for them, but hasn't yet been approved.

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2007/05/14/daily48.html?t=printable

[San Frangelino]

It's not much more than a place marker, but the Californian on Rincon Hill now has a web page. http://www.californianrinconhill.com/index_s.html

[BTinSF]

^^^Wierd they chose photos that make it look like the view will be from about 2 blocks from the TransAmerica Building on the one hand and that cut off the actual location of the building just at the edge of the photo on the other hand.

[coyotetrickster]

Originally Posted by BTinSF

^^^Wierd they chose photos that make it look like the view will be from about 2 blocks from the TransAmerica Building on the one hand and that cut off the actual location of the building just at the edge of the photo on the other hand.

Wonder if they've heard about this really cool application called Photoshop?

[Reminiscence]

Perhaps they were not pictures of the project itself, but rather to emphasize the city it will be in? They dont even provide renderings yet, so I'll stop short of calling it an incorrect representation.

[BTinSF]

^^^It's not incorrect, just rather pointless. Web sites for other buildings that show these views from on-high purport to show the expected view from that building. So far, none of that on the Californian site (maybe because you'd be looking at about the 30th floor of One Rincon Hill).

[Reminiscence]

Yes, I think you are right. However, its good news that we're beginning to hear more about this one. The website may not be up yet, but being under construction is a good sign of progress, in my opinion

[coyotetrickster]

Originally Posted by Reminisence

Yes, I think you are right. However, its good news that we're beginning to hear more about this one. The website may not be up yet, but being under construction is a good sign of progress, in my opinion

Getting back to the Cathedral Hill Tower. Anyone notice the far horizon view (i.e. what you see in the skyline between St. Mary's and the Sasquatch, err, I meant, Sequoia.), it's mostly the ugly concrete wall of the St. Francis Tower. So, anything that would occlude the Statlinesque-era architecture of the SFT is a good thing. Also, do any of the long, long-time SF Forumers have any idea if there was a second St. Francis Tower planned, or a similar long-abandoned expansion, 'cause that is one ugly block o concrete from the Wester exposure!

[dimondpark]

Brenda Payton: Wayans deserves leeway
Column by Brenda Payton
Article Last Updated: 05/22/2007 08:38:33 AM PDT

I THOUGHT the project was a good idea before Keenen Ivory Wayans swept through City Hall last week and flashed his dazzling smile. Honest. His celebrity presence did nothing to sway my opinion about the Wayans Brothers' proposal to develop a movie studio and arts and entertainment district at Oakland's old Army Base. Seriously.

Learning of a growing impatience among city council members after 18 months and no visible progress on the project, Wayans did what any movie star knows to do. He showed up and sprinkled generous amounts of star dust.

Celebrity is a potent force.

In fairness, he did more than that. He and his partner explained legal issues were behind the delay in presenting the city with a formal proposal. They said they had been working behind the scenes and they're ready to introduce their development team and financial partner. After meeting with council members, Wayans said he'd learned from his mistakes.

Humble and famous — that's some combination.

Wayans' finesse aside, the project is a tremendous opportunity. As proposed, it would include a movie studio — with sound stages and production offices — retail outlets, a hotel, an arts and entertainment district, digital arts education and a children's zone.

It would provide untold jobs while being constructed and create a film and entertainment industry. It would not require any public funding. Let me say that another way. It would not require any dollars from the city.

Maybe I should put that in all caps. The project's impact is larger than the jobs and the sales tax income it would generate. Oakland would have a one-of-a-kind attraction. A movie studio and theme park developed by movie stars. We would be a major tourist destination.
Again, the potential is greater than the tens of millions of dollars the project would generate for the city and its residents. It would restore the city's long-battered self esteem. It may even elevate the city's self-image higher than it's ever been.

For all the years I've lived in Oakland, I've marveled at the discrepancy between the city's reality and its reputation. Most Oakland residents are aware of the city's unique charm and beauty; still, the constant bad rap takes its toll. We've developed a collective inferiority complex.

Years ago, when the big downtown mall, with Bullock's department store as an anchor tenant, fell apart after so many years of planning, I asked some city insiders what had gone wrong. They said it came down to the fact some city planners on the project simply didn't believe Oakland measured up.

On one hand, it seemed inconceivable a negative attitude could undermine a multimillion-dollar project. On the other hand, how could such a project overcome a fundamental lack of faith?

Oakland has behaved like Cinderella waiting for Prince Charming on a number of occasions — with Raiders owner Al Davis, former Mayor Jerry Brown and Mayor Ron Dellums.

In the case of the Wayans Brothers' proposal, the glass slipper seemed to materialize out of thin air. They saw a potential in our city most of us had never imagined.

Their interest in the Army Base is not altruistic. It gives them the space they need to build something that could grow. They clearly think they can make the numbers work for them. That makes the proposal even more appealing. They don't feel sorry for us. They see an excellent business opportunity. In Oakland.

I'm hoping Wayans comes back with the information and plans that answer the city council's questions. It would be fabulous to see how their project transforms the city.

One note of advice, the development team would do well to meet with West Oakland community representatives as the brothers originally promised. Their quality of life is at stake and they must be heard. The problems caused by the truck traffic going to the Port of Oakland have to be resolved.

With that said, welcome, Wayans Brothers. And it really has nothing to do with that dazzling smile.

Clarification: In last week's column about a study of disparity in city contracts, I started by asking readers to hold a thought: "Ten of the 12 companies that receive more than 25 percent of the City of Oakland contracts are owned by white men. That's

83 percent."

A number of readers did the math while they were holding the thought. Wouldn't that mean businesses owned by white males had about 20 percent of the city's contracts? Well, no. I was so focused on the concentration of contracts among a few businesses owned by white males, I neglected to add a sentence saying there was a similar disparity in the remaining 75 percent of the city contracts. So for example, firms owned by white males held 63 percent of the construction, 64 percent of the architectural and engineering, 89 percent of the professional services and 79 percent of the goods and services contracts. Sorry for the confusion.


Columnist Brenda Payton can be contacted at [email protected].