>> okay, the planning commission is back in session. if i could remind all of us to silence or turned off our cell phones. commissioners, your on items eight -- you are on the items 8 a and b, case 2012.0032exv for 100 van ness avenue. request for compliance and requests for variances. before you take the items themselves, it is - standing there are a number of requests for continuance of this item -- it is my understanding. >> late last week, several neighborhood organizations said

in a continuous requests -- sent in a continuous requests -- set in -- sent in continuance requests so the project sponsor could present to these groups. the community leadership alliance will not be requesting a continuance. there is a meeting arranged between the project sponsor and this group on august 13. there is also a request made by an adjacent neighbor, who had wanted a full commission -- they wanted the full seven commissioners at the hearing. they also had concerns regarding the construction safety as it relates to their property. >> commissioners, for your

information, the chemist -- the request i did see through e-mail were -- the requests i did see through e-mail, many were related to not having a full commission. we were not sure if commissioners sugaya and hillis would be present. the fact that we are one down, i feel whole and fall as a commission. i did not accept the request for continuance. >> with that, good afternoon, members of the commission. >> commissioners, you must take up the request. if there's anyone who wants to speak to that, they need to address your now, before you consider the merits of the case. commissioner fong: just to clarify, we are opening for public comment on the request

for continuance. >> if the request years -- requesters are here, they should speak now. commissioner fong: is their public comment on the request for continuance? going once, going twice. ok, please continue. >> good afternoon. before you is a project to convert approximately 4000 square feet of office space into residential dwelling units. it would also propose a removal of existing concrete panel facades on a 400-foot tall building. 112 existing off-street parking spaces would be retained as part of the project and an additional six spaces are being requested. these would be located within an existing parking garage. existing parking access will be

moved from van ness ave to an adjacent property, and this would be happening at a future date. existing loading spaces should also be retained. the planning commission determines the project complies with section 309. you must grant two exceptions -- one for the off-street parking ratio. it exceeds the permitted ratio. coverage provisions would also require an exception. the maximum allowable lot coverage for residential units is 80%. as the building is currently situated, it would have 100% coverage and would continue to under the coverage. the zoning administrator would also be considering various requests. similar organizations have committed endorsements of the

project -- several organizations have committed endorsements of the project. i pass this off to you for your consideration. as i mentioned, there were a number of continuance request i received last week -- a number of continuance requests. at this point, there is not any public comment in opposition, beyond the continuance requests, that we have received. project sponsor and staff have been working continuously on this. a condition of approval has been drafted that would require -- staff wants to see greater texture and depth expressed on a larger scale. the condition of approval also require the project sponsor to refine the building glass to a

lighter color so it would more closely match the buildings on the civic center core as well as other high-rise buildings in the city. i would also like to bring your attention that condition of approval #23 regarding tidf was erroneously included, and it would need to be removed if the motion was adopted today -- condition of approval number 23. staff is amenable to the changes to these conditions, and oftentimes, this level of detail is not known to architectural commitments, so staff is recommending the condition -- the commission adopt these changes. the department has found many positive aspects of the projects and recommends you adopt it and

grant the request for the following reasons -- the project would add 399 dwelling units to the city's housing stock. the project would add vitality to the civic center area by adding full-time residents in areas that of that activity before and after a typical worker's pierre the project would improve the pedestrian realm in experience, provides grounds for configuration peer the project would provide 60 on- site bmr units. this concludes my presentation. i will be available for questions. thank you. commissioner fong: thank you. project sponsor.

>> could you bring this image? >> as soon as he starts, it will come up. >> i am the chairman of emerald fund, a local san francisco development firm. it is my great pleasure to present for your review and hopefully approval 100 van ness, the old aaa headquarters tower. together with national real- estate advisers, a union pension fund, we are proposing to convert the building from a vacant 400,000 square foot office building into a 399-unit residential project. over the past 35 years, we have been very active in san francisco. we have developed over 20 major projects working in tight neighborhoods. development has always had its side issues, but rarely have i worked on a project like this that has so many positive benefits and so few negative

ones. with your indulgence, let me go through some of the benefits of the new project. appearance -- the existing building is ugly. since starting the work on this project almost two years ago, i have literally talked with hundreds and hundreds of san franciscans. very few people like that building. stalinist and brutal as it were just a few of the nicer as it is -- stalinistic and brutalistic. it will not be perfect. we are after all working within the confines of a big, a steel box, but the new look will be a vast improvement over the old. environmental -- at 400,000- square-foot office building houses some 1600 workers, who rushed in at 8:30 and leave in a mass at 5:30. our new project will be a home to around 800 residents who will

use the local restaurants at night and beat a much needed positive influence on the streets and on the weekends. many of them will walk to work in the nearby twitters own -- twitter zone and will use the local bike lanes to get around. our parking ratio is only 27 to one, and we will have at least three on-site car share vehicles. traffic trips will be reduced dramatically. i should sit 0.27 -- i should say .27 to one, sorry. energy -- the aaa tower is a 1970's office building, hugely wasteful in energy uses. the new building will be green, utilizing many advanced energy- saving devices.

extension of hayes valley -- one of the great success stories in san francisco history is the revitalization of the marvelous, vibrant hayes valley neighborhood, which now stops at van ness. our remodeled building with its new ground-floor retail, street level plaza area plazacurb bul -- plaza area, curb bulbout will create a marvelous link between the sterility of civic center and the vitality of hayes valley. wind -- as anyone knows who has walked along van ness, the wind is horrible. we have added wind-battling elements to the design that will reduce the number of wind hazard

hours in the immediate area by 38%. unlike most new market rate high-rise projects, we intend to provide inclusionary units on site. the hayes valley neighborhood association, spur, and the housing action coalition were particularly supportive of this decision. construction -- the owners building next to us have expressed concern about the construction project -- process at 100 van ness. during the future processing of our building permits with the department of building inspection, we will work diligently to ensure that our reconstruction proceeds safely and expeditiously. yesterday, we e-mailed you a letter from plant construction summarizing those measures, which we believe will minimize the adverse effects. i would note that any potential disruption during our remodel is absolutely nothing compared to the ground-shaking work that

will be involved with new construction. the foundations of 100 van ness, its columns and its floors, all currently exists. neighborhood support -- we have reached out to many different stakeholders in our immediate neighborhood and enjoy strong support from our important neighborhood groups, the hayes valley neighborhood association, and the civic center community benefit district. we regret that we did not initially contact the community leadership alliance, the tenants' association, and the alliance for a better district 6, but sadly, we did not know about them. we have subsequently talked with them and will meet with them at their earliest convenience. we do not believe with our part -- we do not believe that our proposed use conflicts with their objectives. our project is the embodiment of neighborhood planning. the market and octavia better neighborhoods plan was one of the first plans developed. it calls for the development of

high-density housing in transit-rich locations, especially near the market and then yes -- van ness intersection. with bart one block away and the upcoming brt, van ness could not be better served by public transportation. the conversion to housing will represent an important step in the fulfilment of the market/octavia plan. in conclusion, except for performance nights, the civic center turns into a desert after 5:30. it has the richest cultural amenities in the city. it has some of the city of's dress -- s best transportation systems. all it does not have is residencts. it needs some.

i urge your support. i will now ask our architect to quickly come up and talk about the project. >> thanks. good afternoon, commissioners. i have just got a couple of slides that i would like to take you through showing a couple of years of the building and putting it into context of what is envisioned in the area as we look ahead. these are done as a side-by-side comparison. i think the first slide shows you the elevation from van ness, which is one of our main elements, which swoops up from the ground. a highly textured element which becomes a candidate from the top, and it sits on top of the roof garden. you can see the building in the existing image on the left-hand side just as a straight box, but we are fortunate that there is an opportunity to take the

mechanical floor down, and it frees about a 30-foot-high space, which will become a roof garden. that is sort of a signature element of the architecture, but this is an element that is visible all over the city. that is where we are working right now. these are initial images i am showing you, but we will be working on the texture as we progress. here is an image looking at the east and south elevation. you can see the element that goes over the top of the roof, the walls facing the north, south, and east side. we are working on the figuring right now. they will have balcony's which will allow them to open up. you will see the residents which are inside them. we are working on things like the glass color and the color of the aluminum to have it fit in with the existing context, but it does declare itself as a new building and something brand-new

for the area. one of the exciting things shown here in the base -- right now, the building towards the center is the main entry to the lobby. this will be a serpentine glass wall, very transparent, two retail spaces and the residential leasing office and main lobby entrance. up above that, just below the canopy element that you see, is a solarium, which is where the amenities are. something that can be opened up on a nice day where you will be able to see the residents, and it will be able to activate that second level. that speaks to the fact that we are getting all of our open space on site. this is an image showing the building at dusk time. you see a lot of the character, and the opportunities to have a real signature element. finally, there are two

opportunities -- there are two elements which allow it to showcase well. there are currently 400-foot residential towers. one of them is before you now, which is the richard meier building. there's three others. you can see in the center of the screen 100 van ness. behind that is 10th and market. then you can see the fox plaza in addition -- the fox plaza admission. a little bit smaller in scale. this is another view looking the other direction, which does sort of put the building in context. that is the end of my presentation. happy to answer any questions. commissioner fong: thank you. we may have questions for you later. i will open it up to public comment. i do have some speaker cards

already. if you want to line up on this side of the room, that will make it easier and keep the door available for emergencies. [reading names] >> mr. president, commissioners, i am going to make some remarks on my own behalf. the cbd, of which i'm a board member, is represented by a letter and its board director. one of the conclusions on the study of the civic center was it was a destination, not a district, and that is something we have been attempting to correct over recent years. by my count, there 1700 or more units of housing under construction in the area as we speak. the project before you would

add 400 more units. i would hope by 2015, we might have 7000 or 8000 more people living in the immediate area, and it will be a district rather than a destination. this is a very important part of that goal. since the aaa has decamped from san francisco, one can be rather frank about their tendency -- tenancy. they came to san francisco in the 1920's. in the 1950's, they basically gutted it. took all the exterior materials off of it and built that building that sits there empty.o -- empty. they also had the power because

they owned insurance company to ignore local laws and build an office building. i believe the state constitution has changed, though, and insurance companies cannot do that anymore. they built the building without any consultation with the city and did it the way they wanted to, and we have been stuck with it ever since, as well as the green and blue building. this is a unique opportunity to partially correct that problem. i think that the proponents have presented us with a great improvement to the area and to the urban design, both at the street level and from the view of civic center plaza. i agree with planning staff that the color of the glass needs to be refined to, in my mind, be close to the same color as in the new puc building and in the