>> thank you, good afternoon, commissioners. the request before you today is for several actions regarding a project located at 222 second street at the southwest corner of howard street. -- proposes to demolish an existing service parking lot and loading docks and construct a new 26-story, 350-foot tall office building containing approximately 430,650 square feet of office uses, 5000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, 20,000 square feet of retail space, and a grand for interior open space accessible to the public, measuring 8600 square feet. in order for the project to proceed, the planning commission would need to allocate the request of office space under the a will office development limitation program and determined that the project applies to planning section 309. in addition, the planning commission would need to recommend that the board of supervisors approved amendments to the general plan and zoning

act to increase the height limit on a portion of the property from 150 feet to 350 feet. his height change would affect a relatively smaller area at the western portion of the site, representing approximately 15% of the site and would make this portion inconsistent with the 350-foot height limit on the remainder. as allowed by planning code section 309, the project requests and number of exceptions to the requirement to the planning code. in terms of both requirements, the lower tower portion of the building exceeds the maximum diagonal dimension, maximum floor area, and maximum temperature here in the upper tower, however, complies. the building is massed in a manner that creates a distinctive vision between base, lower power, and upper tower portions of the building with its -- substantial setbacks from the interior of the property line. in addition, the project commits the streets and several lower historic buildings, which serve to make the separation and

access to light purchase of property. project also request an exception from the requirements regarding crown level when cover. it requires that they not exceed certain cover and have a level wind speeds, and also reduce the existing and it's been at the existing level. project would not result in any hazardous when speeds. it would eliminate a for your existing comfort level exceed insists. however, at the new locations, wind speeds were only slightly exceed the comfort criteria by one to four miles per hour, depending upon location. the link upon at the comfort levels are exceeded would only increase slightly from 16.4% to 17% here lastly, as has been discussed, the project just request an exception regarding shadows on public sidewalks. the code requires a project on this portion of second street comply with the sunlight access claim that begins with a high of 132 feet and slopes away at

an angle of 62 degrees. project into its within this plane. many existing buildings in the area to cast shadows on second street, and the new shadows generated by the portion of the building inside the claim are limited in generation and disappear by the late fall and winter. at this time, i would like to distribute to you a number of letters and e-mails that sap has received following publication of your packet, and i understand you have received separate transmittals. the letters that i'm presenting to you do raise concerns about dust, noise, and degree during construction, traffic, scale of the building, and the exceptions and questions of liability of new office space in the area. i would also like to mention that if the commission is inclined to approve this project, the commission should adopt ceqa findings and the mmrp as an attachment. these findings were provided to you in hard copy and were

available to the public at time of publication of staff reports but really should not necessarily be adopted as a stand-alone item. again, if the project is inclined to be approved by this commission, these findings and the mmrp should be adopted as part of the case as an attachment, and i would request direct staff to refer to this attachment any corporate the findings by reference. in conclusion, staff recommends approval of the projects for a number of reasons. the project would add substantial offices, retail space, and publicly accessible open space in the downtown corridor. the project is well-designed and suited for an intense and urban context, that is characterized by an eclectic mix of buildings, skills, an architectural style. product would replace an existing service parking lot with a use that would reinforce and activate and has employees that will add to the vitality of the area. the project is designed to the gold standard and inherently contributes to the

sustainability goals in the location people can walk or use transit without relying on automobiles. staff supports the project and recommends approval of the action related to the projects, including the requested 309 extension, subject to the conditions of approval and the modifications that i mentioned regarding the format of the ceqa findings. this concludes my presentation. thank you. commercial miguel: thank you. >> mr. president, i have a couple of procedural questions. to the city attorney's office, is it an issue or problem that the ceqa findings are not called out on the calendar as an agenda item? i was just wondering because they are always -- in the past, we have had similar cases where we have done the certification of the final and specific agenda item on ceqa findings, but i do not believe that is necessary. >> there is no requirement in

ceqa that the findings be made as a stand-alone motion. in cases like this where you have a number of approvals, it makes it a little cleaner to have a stand alone motion that comes first, but it is certainly not a requirement has a law, as long as the commission makes it clear that when they take the first approval action, they are also adopting the ceqa findings that can be found in this draft motion. they are adopting those and adopting the mitigation moderating program and incorporating those by reference into the motion that they are making, that the commission is making. >> ok, thank you. second question is item 12a has to do with the annual office limitation program, under which we are going to vote whether or not to -- i do not know the right term -- allocate, i guess

412,650 square feet of office space. is that number not dependent on item 12b, where we would have to do a general plan amendment to change the height sell from 150s to 350s, and if that is not the case, should this item not come first, in terms of voting? >> thank you, commissioner. actually, the request of height change, even if it were recommended by this commission for approval, would not become effective until the adoption by the board of supervisors. if that were the case. really, the section approvals and all other actions typically related to the fundamental building blocks of the project, the building envelope and the allowance allocation is all sort of contended upon the future action. >> our action is dependent on

our action of 12b, isn't it? >> that is not necessarily the case because first of all, we have conditioned the motions in such a way that everything is conditioned upon the presumption or the requirement that the resounds in general plant classification occur at a later date, but you are essentially allocating an amount of office space, but there would still need to be the enabling actions for a building. i did not know if you can utilize the space -- >> ok, i've got it. thank you. commercial miguel: project sponsor? >> perfect, and if we could turn the computer screen on.

>> good afternoon. i'm thrilled to be here. i've gotten to know a number of you well. we've been working on this project for close to four years. we are thrilled to bring it in front of you, and we think it builds on the track record. great projects that are both economically viable, and the contributions to downtown, the 650-unit project where we have literally now one residential unit up for sale. last year was the most successful building project in the country, and 555 machine, which as of today is 82% lead and with commitments to existing tenants for expansion is 95% committed -- 555 mission. this corner is a critical corner from our perspective in downtown. it is an extraordinary opportunity to build a great

office building. there are very few. there are really only three viable entitled office buildings. we have taken great pains to bring together a great architectural team to build what we hope is a great building, but also an economically viable building. we would like to be out there competing for tenants. i will turn it over to the president-elect of the aia to take you through the detailed discussion. >> thank you, carl. tom and i are going to take you through the design of the project, and i want to touch on a couple of things that i think are important for me to address. first, the importance of sustainability in the project. remarkably almost four years ago, we got in line to be one of the first projects in the lead expedited program, so what you see is the way we will be able

to pursue a legal and the measure that we will be able to do there. the other thing that i want to take is the ground floor uses because the thing that is very important in the way we have configured the project -- the frontage or probably almost 3/4 of the site, is really devoted to pedestrian uses that include public open space at fronts on howard and second street, and retail uses at the corner of second cornertahama. loading and vehicle access -- the corner of second and tehama. the interesting statistic as we are accommodating 58 cars based on the current law that accommodate about 200 spaces. the other thing that is a key part of the open space criteria and after the is the importance of the art. the art will be located within the open space. jerry is currently chairman of the museum of modern art's, so

his collection and his desire and his passion is something you have seen in the projects that he has delivered to the city. , is going to talk in much greater detail about the character, what makes the shingling very unique, and i think that is one of the things we find great in the project. there are four issues i want to touch on that i think you have already heard. i wanted to adjust all of them so you understand the context in which the design evolves. first is under section 270 and really talks about the ball on this, and one of the things that we made the decision early on in conjunction with many meetings is how we would deal with the design for the site, and i think most significant is the relationship relevant to 631 howard, the historic building on the western side. we made a conscious decision to keep the base of the building at 62 feet compared to the code maximum, which permits 103 feet, so we have left some square footage in the basis of

relationship. the lower half of the building is where we are seeking exception. the upper tower is compliant. that is part of the discussion over the skyline. and simply the analysis here that i would say is is really compensation. we have not taken any more area than would have an intelligent, put it in the face of the building, put it in the lower power of the building that carl was talking about. next thing that i want to touch on is something that we have already talked about, which is win. any building in the city, any place you really talk about is obviously something that i think is a very important thing to address. you heard this before -- there were 51 points identified. the reality of what has happened is i would say that the wind has migrated both north and easterly on the site, and the result of that has been that the wind in front of one half one, which is the new residential project, actually disappears.

they move in close proximity of the site, and the reality is that there is really only one new exceeded system created, that is on the intersection of second and howard treat, on the southeast side -- on howard street, on the southeast side of the site, and the reality is that the wind just sort of move. the other thing that is not possible is the trees, which are part of the design, will be accommodated around the site. they are always seen as mitigation for wind, and we think the wind will actually get reduced significantly. section 146, sunlight access. this is again an issue you have talked about. this is from the downtown planning trap, in terms of where those seats were designed to be protected. the great that you see there is the project site, and the key actually identifies one where shall analyses were done, then we did substantial analysis on this.

kevin talked about the importance of this plane. the 132 feet, the 60-degree incline on the site. you see the wedge on the right side. the reality here is that if you go back to the document that really would be the basis for looking at any design, the criteria established was such that before noon, between march 21 and september 21 are seen as the critical periods, so what we did, in addition to a lot greater analysis, we have shown in march, june, and september, and what i can confidently say is that in aggregate, there is 0.67%, and there is no new shadow being created, so if you really look at the analysis very closely, it is really something we feel very confident that we have taken very careful diligence with to commissioner more -- moore's concerns. this is a photo that is a

remnant of the past. those, obviously, have been demolished. the section through this shows the relationship of the buildings relative to the height. on the left is folsom st.. on the right is market street, which did not change. what we're seeking here is a result of the design discussions with the planning department and the efforts we thought were necessary that really created a characteristic frontage on howard street is that we decided collectively that the rezoning portions which you see on the dotted line there should be changed from 150 to 350 feet, and i think that is the most significant periods. it does not affect the height of the building, in terms of the design character, is only remnant of the past relative to what the buildings were there. let me move on now. tom is going to take you through the end, that i think is a very special part of this building. >> hello, everyone.

i'd like to take you through a little bit about what the building looks like. did we lose it? there is. what we have made here is what i would call kind of a shingle glass feet with slightly overlapping towers, and this gives the building its character with shades and shadow and a little bit of articulation that begins to break the scale down of the neighborhood. particularly as a corollary, you can begin to read the plane of glass, so rather than having flesh plan of glass, it is slightly overlapping to give it that sense of, i think, really wonderful articulation in the neighborhood. here is kind of a wall section on the right-hand side. you can see that we have got about 32 inches as a floor floor height with design foot

ceilings so we can get enough structure to service the building. and another detail their with the photograph on the lower right, showing the overlapping shingling, and a little bit of articulation on the ground floor so that every floor is articulate it and every last stain is articulated to give it a really special character in the city. here it is. i never said that, the last plane flips -- at every setback, the glass plate slips, so it also gives it articulation, a bit of scale and character there on the corner. here is the before picture along howard street, looking to the western side. there, the articulation, that lower base, the base that we will talk about in the second, completely transparent and open in the life of the city. mid-block, as clarke explained,

and the tower. this is looking south along howard street. i'm sorry, along second street looking south. you see the upper tower and articulation on the roof. this is an important you because it talks about this historic building their along howard st. just off the corner, and we want to bring the base of the building along so that it carries that line across and relates to that part of the neighborhood. intentionally sits back there, what it reveals, and along the base of the building, we really wanted to make that march use of glass and big, movable doors, so when those doors part, that lobby and that place -- cafe tables really become part of the light of the city, really becomes part of the life of the neighborhood along with the

articulation. here it is with the street trees, so that becomes kind of an arcade with the trees, clear glass buildings and movable doors, really becomes very lively, and a part of the city would be kind of a blank for sought that is more of a fortress -- blind -- blank facade that is more of a fortress. they are looking along second street. the reveal their -- there that reveals that four-story base. the street trees that i think are important to give the building scale between it and our building. here are the materials which we

can examine the clear glass, the stainless steel large portals, the clear glass as the building rises up, so very simple, very, i think, aesthetically pleasing materials. the main corridor there at second avenue of howard street, as it moves along, as it relates to the life of the city, the big doors, the four story baseman reveal, the carry along that character height -- basement real comedy carry along that character hike. certainly open to any questions. >> i just want to say we have worked very hard to pull this together. we have our team here who would be happy to answer any

questions. >> thank you. >[inaudible] and public comments. >> good afternoon, commissioners. fortunate enough yesterday to attend the transbay terminal ground-breaking, and a couple of buzz words that were said over and over again were "grand central station of the west" and building for the future. i think this is a gray example of how we can complement this new terminal. 11 separate methods of transit terminating in one central location, and this project is a stone's throw away, just adjacent wall past on the walk back to the office, after using my new clipper card, by the way, and saw once again in the

parking lot -- or a full parking lot, but flat, underutilized piece of land. the project will be utilizing clear glass, which will be better for life conservation and energy management, and i look forward to going on the bay view project for san francisco. thanks. commercial miguel: thank you. >> it is half a miracle to seek a proposal for an office project. we thought a minor one not too long ago, but this one really is substantial, and it is exactly where office is supposed to go -- san francisco. for the most part, it is exactly the height at which is supposed to be, and is tied exactly into the transit corridor we have in that part of san francisco.

provides further customers for the businesses in that part of san francisco. it is pretty much everything we want in that part of san francisco. the minor exemption for the height of one part of project, that is a slob they seem to of explained very well by their respect for the sale of the adjacent historic structure, so i ask you to approve this project and let us get on with it. thank you. commissioner miguel: thank you. >> [inaudible] commissioner miguel: i go on cards. if you do not put a card in, you have to go at the end. i realize that, but most people who need a block of time put in a card, so after the cards, i

will. then a good afternoon. i am representing turner construction. we're at 34 3 cents in st., downtown san francisco. the accident involving construction over 40 years ago, and we are happy to say we have been working with teh a &e team for about three years. it will be in excess of $100 million and employ 300 union workers on an average of 150 labors over the course of the two-year project, so i would like to encourage you to approve the project. we are very supportive. a lot of our sub-contractors are looking forward to putting the tool belts back on and being part of a very successful project. having been personally involved in the trans bay terminal

project, i believe this project will be very complementary to the skyline in and around the neighborhood. thank you very much. commissioner miguel: thank you. professor. >> [inaudible] so many electronic gadgets here. there will be a series of bus speaking. i want to go back to an issue i talked about when we had the comments on the eir, which is that the intention of the

planning department, the intention of the city for this area was to really balance out a whole lot of issues, and the issues were the historic district, building design heights to protect sunlight -- in this particular block, the only areas that are protected in the south of market are montgomery and second street. the others are on the north of market, but this was the area that the cities he wrote in on as very important to protect it. they are seeking an office allocation, which gives another layer of evaluation of -- is this the best project? i would point out how many office allocations have been granted that have not been used. you have renewed them. you have about seven to eight projects that have gotten allocation that have not been built, and that is a reflection

of the need for office space and the demand for office space. this project is coming to you on a site that the planning code and the downtown plan, the -- designates as a highly sensitive site foreshadows. what they are doing is they are balking out the building. they are asking for as much as you can possibly get -- you cannot get more square feet than they are asking for. it is an impossibility. you cannot get more height because they already have to change the height. you cannot get -- unless you totally through the code out -- more square feet. with the limited amount of space that they can get, they are still stretching the floor plate. they are going maximum floor plate and then some, and not only for the individual floor,

but for the average in the lower power. when you add this all up and you have not gone through the shadow plan, you are having shadows. i would point out that these are the shadows in the eir. this is 12 noon on march 21. you can see this entire area. when it is black, it means there is no shadow there at all. you have all been doing shadow diagrams for a long time. you knew the drill as well as i do. then, you have the shadows on september 21. again, these are totally new. this is new, when people are going through. december, we kind of thing that december is december, but all of this right now is sunny. look at this long area that currently is sunny in december at 10:00. andy