Land Use Engagements
3575 Geary Boulevard / Coronet Theater Site, San Francisco - Assisted Bridge Housing Corporation and the Institute on Aging in obtaining land use entitlements to demolish the vacant Coronet Theater in San Francisco's Richmond District and replace it with a mixed-use project containing two floors of health and social services for seniors and low-income senior rental units above. In the face of intense opposition from some immediate neighbors, we obtained unanimous votes from both the San Francisco Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors, and are now working with the City Attorney's office to defend the project's EIR and use permit in a case pending before the San Francisco Superior Court.
428 Alice Street / Jack London Square, Oakland - Obtained land use permits, including certification of an EIR, for the demolition of a contributory historic building and the construction of a mid-rise residential building in Oakland's Jack London Square neighborhood. When opponents filed a lawsuit challenging the city's approvals, we successfully moved for summary judgment and obtained a dismissal of the case within months of its commencement.
55 Laguna (UC Extension Site), San Francisco - The University of California closed its two-block square extension campus in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco in 2003 and is ground leasing the property to A.F. Evans Development, Inc. We are representing Evans in developing a master plan for the site, undertakng environmental review, obtaining a General Plan amendment, rezoning, height limit increase, and project entitlements for a mixed-use rental project, including family units, independent living units targeted to LGBT seniors, open space and community facilities.
690 Market Street (former Chronicle Building) - We are currently assisting the owner of the 690 Market in their efforts to uncover and rehabilitate the historic Chronicle Building (circa 1890 – 1907) which is hidden beneath a 1960's exterior shell. The project will add eight new stories on top of the existing building, and convert the former office use to approximately 113 residential condominiums. The project also involves the acquisition of air and light easements and a reciprocal easement agreement to provide access to a new underground parking garage through an adjacent property, creation of a Special Use District by local ordinance, as well as a conditional Landmarks Designation and Mills Act Historic Property Contract to reduce future property tax assessments. The inclusionary component of this project will be provided offsite, at 942 Market Street.
800 Brotherhood Way, San Francisco - Obtained entitlements for the subdivision of a large site near Lake Merced in southwestern San Francisco into 121 lots for the construction of 182 single-family homes and duplexes. After defeating an administrative appeal of the project's mitigated negative declaration, we successfully defended the project approvals in the Superior Court. The CEQA challenge is now on appeal, and we represent the developers in the California Court of Appeal.
One Rincon Hill, San Francisco - Obtained the land use entitlements for our client Urban West Associates of San Diego to construct two high-rise residential towers atop San Francisco's Rincon Hill, one of 59 stories and the other of 47 stories, totaling 709 condominiums and townhouses. Our representation included negotiating a General Plan amendment and rezoning for the entire Rincon Hill area, obtaining a height limit increase from 200 feet to 550 feet, obtaining permits to demolish a historic structure on the site, negotiating a feasible impact fee package and the formation of a Mello-Roos community facilities district to finance those fees. Phase 1 of the project was under construction and nearly fully pre-sold within months of final entitlements.
Pier 70 – Represented the San Francisco Arts Consortium, a consortium of non profit arts groups, led by the San Francisco Art Institute, in its bid and selection by the Port to develop a performing and visual arts center at Pier 70 in San Francisco.
San Bruno Towne Center - We obtained all the approvals for the San Bruno Towne Center regional shopping center, including a 25-year development agreement – the first in that city’s history.
San Francisco Ferry Building - We have been extensively involved in this $100 million historic tax credit renovation project under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) which consists of office and retail uses. Our work encompassed formation of the development entity, negotiation of a complex ground lease and development transaction with the Port of San Francisco, securing numerous entitlements from the City of San Francisco, State Lands Commission, State Historic Preservation Office and National Park Service, and resolving several sophisticated lease buyouts and a proposed condemnation proceeding.
Shelter Creek - In San Bruno, California, we represented Shelter Creek in the successful conversion of a 1,296-unit apartment project to condominiums and obtained $91,000,000 in tax-free bonds from the city to help first-time homebuyers.
Concar Offices - We negotiated a ground lease for development of a 200,000 square foot office in the City of San Mateo utilizing joint venture type provisions that enabled the land owner to keep its land while giving our developer client the joint venture rewards it expected.
Foundry Square - Located in San Francisco’s South of Market area, Foundry Square is a state of the art four-building project. We worked on virtually every aspect of this project, from the formation of the ownership entities, the conceptualization and negotiation of complex purchase, joint venture, ground lease and operating agreements in connection with the acquisition of the underlying land, and the drafting and negotiation of construction, architectural and other design professional contracts.
Piers 1 ½, 3 and 5 - We are assisting our client, San Francisco Waterfront Partners, in its redevelopment of Piers 1 ½, 3 and 5, on San Francisco’s Embarcadero, into mixed use spaces: retail, office and restaurant uses.