A judge has ordered the California Public Employees’ Retirement System to release key documents related to a failed $100 million real estate investment in East Palo Alto. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Charlotte Wollard wrote in her ruling in the lawsuit by the First Amendment Coalition that public interest in the documents “far outweighs any asserted interest in non-disclosure” given the amount of public money lost.
Category: Land use
Posted inBay Area, Environment, Land use, Media
Is it ‘smart growth’ to build in the San Francisco Bay? Updates from the field
The Bay Area needs more homes for its growing population, but does it make sense to house 30,000 people on unstable land, in earthquake country, that’s also at high risk of inundation by rising sea waters? A massive development proposal on the fringes of the San Francisco Bay, in one of the last potentially developable areas in the region, is raising questions about the definition of smart growth. [The Public Press is developing an in-depth report for the fall print edition and the website. We are raising funds on the journalism micro-funding site Spot.us to pay for the reporting and photography on the story.]
Posted inCommunity, Environment, Land use, News
Environmental groups concerned about Treasure Island traffic
After a string of environmental groups and Treasure Island redevelopment critics requested more time to analyze the San Francisco project’s complex and lengthy draft environmental impact review last week, the Planning Commission granted them an additional two weeks. The public now has until Sept. 10 to submit written comments about the 2,000-plus-page report, first released in mid-July, which discusses environmental concerns ranging from transportation and greenhouse gas emissions to accommodating sea level rise and girding for earthquakes.
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, Land use
Run down? Pay up — a list of San Francisco blighted properties
More than half a year after the Department of Building Inspection launched an ambitious effort to catalog unused and blighted properties in the city — a process that ultimately could bring in millions of dollars in property and transfer taxes and developer fees — the effort has been hobbled by layoffs in the department.
The Board of Supervisors passed an anti-blight law unanimously in November 2009. It requires property owners whose buildings are vacant or abandoned to register them with the city and fix up their dilapidated exteriors. The law is intended to reduce crime, clean up neighborhood blight and stimulate economic and social activity.
Posted inHousing, Labor, Land use, Law & Justice, Open Government
Lawsuit seeks details on failed $100 million CalPERS investment
The public has been slow to learn about details surrounding controversial investments made by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System. Now a public-interest legal group is suing CalPERS to ensure key documents related to a failed $100 million investment come to light.
Posted inBay Area, Economy & Business, Land use, Transportation
SF may soon get 2 Target stores
Officials from the chain retailer Target met with residents Wednesday to discuss plans for one of two proposed stores in San Francisco. The proposed sites include the former Mervyns storefront at Geary Boulevard and Masonic Avenue and inside the Metreon at Mission and Fourth streets.
Posted inCity Hall, Environment, Land use, Social Justice
Is Bayview the new Gulf of Mexico? Activists see parallels
This week’s debates over environmental approval for the $8 billion redevelopment planned for Bayview brought to the forefront comparisons with neighborhoods in the Gulf of Mexico — both in terms of environmental and racial justice concerns. The neighborhood redevelopment plan passed its latest milestone — the contentious environmental impact report — when the Board of Supervisors gave it a thumbs-up after more than nine hours of debate Wednesday morning, by an 8-3 vote.
Posted inCity Hall, Economy & Business, Land use, Neighborhoods, News
Mid-Market mogul: How Urban Realty quietly cornered San Francisco’s troubled main drag
San Francisco-based developer Urban Realty has been sitting on valuable, mostly vacant real estate on Market Street between Fifth and Sixth for almost six years. Urban Realty principal David Rhoades is waiting for the Planning Commission to approve the proposed CityPlace this month before he unleashes all of his plans.
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Posted inEconomy & Business, Government & Politics, Health, Housing, Labor, Land use, News, Treasure Island
Homebuilder Lennar uses federal taxpayer funds to balance its books
In 2006, things were looking good for Lennar, America’s second-biggest homebuilder. That year, before the U.S. housing market’s epic collapse, the Miami-based giant pulled down $15.6 billion in revenues and closed sales on 29,568 homes. The ink was just drying on a massive and potentially lucrative deal to transform Treasure Island with new housing complexes, and the well-connected Lennar already had secured a deal to develop the Hunters Point Shipyard that the Navy was turning over to San Francisco.
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Posted inHousing, Land use, News, Treasure Island
Treasure Island residents face choices for relocation
Residents of Yerba Buena and Treasure islands are divided on the relocation plan city officials have presented to the public. While many Yerba Buena residents expressed concern over maintaining their quality of life through more than a decade of construction, Treasure Island residents tended to express more support. Read more…