>> february 14ing, 2013. i'd like to remind everyone to please silence any mobile

devices that may sound off during the proceedings. commissioners, we left off upped your regular calendar item 8, case no. 2012.1482b, mission bay block 40, aka 1800 - 1900 owens street request for office development authorization. >> good afternoon, commissioners. tara sullivan planning department staff. the item before you this afternoon is for 1800 owens street, commonly known as mission bay block 40, located in the southwest corner of the mission bay south redevelopment plan. the property is a triangle shaped lot bounded by freeway 2 80 on the west, 16th street to the north, owens street to the east, mariposa street to the south. the property is zoned commercial industrial use with an hz7 or 160-foot height limit. the request before you today is for the authorization of 700,000 square feet of office space pursuant to planning code sections 320 and 321. the proposed project is for the construction of a new 99 5,000

square foot office building which will consist of two campuses. each campus will feature a six-story podium connected to a 12-story building. the maximum height will be 180 feet with a top of each tower rising to 169 feet and then up to 180 feet with allowable mechanical features. there will be approximately 295,000 square feet of parking resulting in 680 independently accessible parking spaces on five floors. the entrance to these parking garages are going to be on owens street. mission bay block 40 is located within the mission bay south redevelopment area which was established in 1998. all development is outlined in the plan area documents and the design for the development document which is the zoning and design code that prescribes bulk, height, setbacks, views, parking and all other land use components. the successor agency to the former redevelopment agency has purview of all projects under

this area. underedth area plan, however, the planning commission must review and authorize the design and office allocation for projects in this area. in addition, mitigation measures that are incorporated into the area plan will also all apply to new office projects that you authorize. all other land use components such as height, setbacks, open space, parking, are reviewed and approved by the new commission on community investment infrastructure which is one of two successor commissionses to the former redevelopment commission. i want to point out that the project will be seeking four variances from the design further development document. and they will be requesting that the commission on community investment and infrastructure approve them. and i'll go through them very quickly. the first one is a corner street wall. the design for development states that buildings must be constructved at the street wall. block 40 will be setback from the corner of owens and 16th street approximately 63 feet. the bulk, the design for

development limits the footprint towers to 20,000 square feet and 200 square feet in length. block 40 proposes a building that will be 21,000 square feet in size and 239 feet long. spacing between towers. the design for development document limits the spacing between the towers to 200 feet. block 40 is proposing 160 feet between the two taller towers on the site. and finally height, the design for development document allows for a maximum height of 160 feet with exemptions for mechanical equipment. block 40 is proposing a height limit of 169 feet. as mentioned above, the total height of the buildings will be 180 feet. the department has been working with the project sponsor for the past several months fine tuning the design of the building focusing on the architectural treatment of the five story garage areas designed among the western and 2 80 freeway facade as well as getting cohesive architectural vocabulary foyer both campuses. in this vein the secretary has passed out additional conditions of approval which

were forwarded to us from the successor agency and will be in their approval documents at their commission. * the department said these conditions are acceptable and we would ask you you to incorporate them into your final motion here today. briefly, they highlight things such as building materials, colors and finishes will be reviewed and approved by successor agency staff. landscape design shall be reviewed and approved by successor agency staff. design of the parking shall be subject to further review by successor agency staff. focusing on the facade treatment and light spill over. design and location of trash, loading docks, transformers and other utility facilities, all signage must be reviewed and approved by the successor agency. and finally, the developer will comply with the mission bay south program requirements requiring hiring of minority and women-owned businesses. lastly, the commission secretary also passed out some correspondence that i received and some packets went out two weeks ago. we received two letters in

support and two letters in opposition. both letters in support say the buildings are appropriate to the mission bay south. one commenter in opposition finds the building to be rather ordinary and boxy and feels that they do not add esthetic value to the adjacent neighborhood. the second letter from save the hill discusses the quality of design in its overall height. specifically, the they say the building should be designed with more consideration of the close proximity to highway, freeway, excuse me, 2 80 and to the potrero hill neighborhood. the preliminary proposal to remove the elevated highway 2 80 at this block is also a concern to this organization. they feel there is traffic and c-e-q-a issues related to it. the de tails are in the letters before you right now. to recap, the project before you today is to review and comment on the design of the building and to authorize the 700,000 square feet of office space. * the next steps will be the review and approval by the commission of community and infrastructure which will assess the requested variances as well as your comments and the requirements in the design

development documents. the department recommends approval of the authorization of the full 700,000 square feet for the following reasons. it's permitted office use is permitted as a right in the mission bay south redevelopment plan and accompanying design for development document. the project meets the goals and objectives of these two documents and will develop the southwest corner of the neighborhood. the new office space will increase the number of employees in san francisco and help increase the economic activity in the neighborhood. and finally, it's consistent with the planning code and the general plan. i'm here if you have any questions. the project sponsor seth hamilton from mission bay development group is here and he would like to briefly go through the architectural program of the site. thank you. >> project sponsor, please. president, commissioners, thank you very much. thank you for your time today. i'm seth [speaker not understood] and i'm with the mission bay development group. we are a master developer of

mission bay. we inherited that role from catell a. and in general we have been selling off-site as we develop off-street utilities, park infrastructure, mission bay, kind of [speaker not understood] been developing it. okay. i'm going to be doing the presentation as well. is that okay? >> yes. that would be great. so, in this particular case we'll actually be developing this site out. block 40 is aztar a described, entitled roughly 700,000 feet of [speaker not understood]. just to orient everyone to the mission bay project itself on the screen, the north portion of mission bay in the orange and yellow is the residential zone within mission bay. * mission bay was originally approved for 6,000 units of residential, of which 30% roughly are affordable. that affordability is achieved through some inclusionary units as well as donations made by the master developer of land sites for the agency to then

develop out affordable housing. there is a linear park system that runs through kind of the center of the development there and then south of that, the blue area on the map, is the university campus. this was acreage that was donated by the master developer and the city in conjunction to help give ucsf a brand-new biotech research campus. they're building it out. they're currently about two-thirds complete and it's roughly 2.7 million square feet that they're building there. surrounding that campus, the idea was there would be private sector spill over and collaboration that would occur with office and lab space design to encircle that campus. however, since the plan was adopted, there's been an addition made the green area farther south end of the plan in the center directly below the campus. and that green area is the ucsf medical center which is 550-bed hospital at full build out. they're currently under construction of their first phase of building a half million dollars project. so, block 40 is directly to the

west of that medical center. southwest from the university campus itself and then directly south of other biotech space. and i'll go ahead and zoom in. we've got an aerial shot which gives you a sense of the status of development. a lot of the university campuses built out at this time, offices beginning to fill in around it and the residential is heavily under construction to the north. and in the area further north next to the ballpark is essentially already built out. if we zoom in further, block 40 is there pinned up against the 2 80 freeway directly to its west. we're looking from the southwest looking northeast back up at mission bay. and, so, the red outlined area is block 40. to its right to the east is the medical center parking garage. to the north biotech office and lab, and then kitty-corner is jen entech hall at the university campus. we then go into the site plan. you can again see, and we labeled on this plan where each of the buildings are that

surround it. as you can see this is a pretty challenging site. it tapers down at its south end which end of this orientation is the left side of the screen. it's pinned up against both 2 80 fly over as well as the caltrain tracks below. so, fairly hemmed in site. owens street which defines the eastern boundary which is at the bottom part of this site on this page, owens street is not yet built in this section. so, we'll be building that out over the next two years. that connects mariposa to the left on the screen and 16th street to the right. so, it helps orient you to the site. i'll talk a little now about some of the things about how we laid out the site from a circulation standpoint. * some of the thinking the site lays out in a manner, one of the things we heard very clearly from the community is that many mission bay blocks, although of similar size and block size to the rest of the soma district, oftentimes only have one building on them, whereas many of the blocks up in the soma have, you know, anywhere from a half dozen to a

dozen different buildings. so, it creates a very different esthetic. so, one of the things we've tried to do with this site layout is begin to break up the site to feel more like a series of separate buildings. so, there are four kind of individual units within the site layout. the circulation is set up where we've created breaks along the owens street edge to allow for active pedestrian settings and those can be illustrated here on my next slide. that's the pedestrian entrance. we created three different entry points along owens street and an additional point along 16th street to help encourage activity and to give a sense of multiple separate buildings. then we have only one curb cut on owens street which brings in cars and directly at the front facade of that garage includes bicycle parking to help activate that edge of the garage. and then we have relegated the service and loading to the back edge of the property up against the caltrain tracks and the 2 80 fly over.

so, that's the way circulation on the site works. if we switch now to one of the corners actually, flip back for just a second. at the corner along 16th street you'll notice one of the variances that tara mentions bringing back one of the buildings from the corners. we had both cornerers 16th and owens at the bottom right-hand side of the page and the corner up in the upper right-hand corner, we have moved the building back away from the edge of the site to provide open space, some respite for pedestrians, a plaza gesture that helps mirror the plazas across the street in front of 1700 owens on the other side of 16th street ferment and so would create some more pleasant dynamic as well as providing the site lines. it also provides visibility for each office building. so, by stepping back both the building at the corner and the next building at the corner can be visible as well and that helps break up the sense of mass as buildings move inward and outward. this is a rendering of the plaza at the corner of owens street. one of the conditions mentioned

obviously is a further design review effort and working with the agency to further flesh out the use he here. but what again is envisioned is a place where people can gather where there might be an opportunity for some kind of food service or food court or even a restaurant on the ground level. it's a tough corner because of the parking structure across the street from the hospital, but we'd like to try to activate it at least set the structure in a best position possible to activate it in that way. at the other corner of the building that i mentioned, this is the entry if you're coming west ward along 16th street and you're headed towards the building, this gives you a sense of again stepping back away from the freeway. there's a grander sense of arrival and mission bay than there otherwise would and again mission bay is very heavily pedestrian and bicycle traffic street providing opportunities to stop and rest at this point. so, we go to the elevations which is the next page in your package. in addition to creating the open spaces at the corners sw creating the breaks between buildings, each of which is about 40 feet in width, we also

did things with architectural materials to make sure the buildings read as different buildings as you move north and south along owens street. * so, you have a use of colors, a use of different materials, some being more glassy, some being a more punched dynamic. and with that you get a sense, even though there is a pattern to the site, they each have their own character ask identity. and i'll just take you around as we rotate around the building site south. that was the east. this is now the southeast looking up from one of the park locations across the street just south of the medical center. * rotating around to the southwest from 2 80. around to the west elevation. we're showing the freeway transparent here. freeway actually isn't. all the things below that will be hidden from view, but we know there had been discussion in the past the fact that might change. we've been equally thoughtful about the west elevation that would have a good he is theyth if i can that were to ever occur.

and then at the northwest corner coming in along 16th street. and finally the northeast vantage. i kept it brief because i know you have a complete package. i want to say it's been a real pleasure working with the planning staff. where we started with this project is not what you see today. we've gotten a lot of really important feedback. it's been a great collaborative process and we feel really good about the design. but we'll be available to answer specific questions. i also have the package itself that i can bring up on the screen if we need to discuss it later. thank you very much. >> thank you. opening it up for public comment. i do have one speaker card, carin woods. i chair the mission bay

citizens advisory committee which now reports to the commission on community investment and infrastructure. we've been working on this project for a long time. we saw this project twice, and we have unanimous support on the cac for the changes that were made. we really like the setback, 16th and owens street. owens street is a curve across 16th street and that really opens up site lines as well as giving us some space in front of the building. we support, totally support the extra nine feet of height because by reducing the height of the mechanical equipment, you're still keeping that total 180-foot height limit. we like the map thing because it breaks up the facades, something that we could have used a lot more in mission bay.

we've learned a lot over the years. we like the protected day care open space. i don't know if you can see that, but it's in -- where the deep insert is between buildings. we hope that the health department will allow us to put day care there because we desperately need it in mission bay. you have a letter from toby levine, a former commissioner, who is on the mission bay cac while she couldn't be here wanted to let you know she supports it. the only opposition that we've seen is from the same people that have always hated mission bay. they don't like the bulk. they don't like anything about it. and, so, it's very difficult to

change anything to suit them. but we think it's a good plan. we think it's a good design, and we ask your support. thank you. >> is there any additional public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioner antonini. >> i have a few questions for project sponsor or maybe staff. i guess maybe first staff in regards to the first question. we're allocating 700,000 square feet, and i'm sure at this particular time we have quite a bit of office space available to allocate, although in the upcoming years we're going to have demands for quite a bit. but i think there's a carry over. so, just making sure that we still have quite a bit. >> thank you, commissioners. tara soul van from the department. i did bring with me the latest office allocation figures and what is currently as of october

22nd, 2012 available. the current availability for large -- excuse me, large allocation projects is 2,579,60 6. * pending, because we do have a lot in the pipeline. so, pending is 1,891,522 square feet. and i'm happy to pass this around. i only have one copy, but if you'd like to see it. >> okay, yeah. we have quite a bit pending. and the pending, is this included in the pending or would this be in addition to the pending? >> the current availability, the two includes the pending. so, it's actually broken into three different categories. it's current availability, pending availability, and then pipeline availability. so, we have a variety, dan sider with our staff actually tracks all of this and tracks incoming projects, approved projects. obviously when you have an office allocation, it doesn't vest to the property until you actually pull the building permit and construct.

until then, essentially the allocation is kind of hanging out in the cloud so to speak, and then it lands on the property within 18 months. >> and also i understand mission bay's office allocation takes priority, i believe, over others if it ever came to pass that there was a -- >> that's our understanding. >> okay. from what i'm hearing, it sounds like we're probably fine and sounds like this is a project that is a good one. i have a couple of other questions, i guess, for project sponsor. okay. you mentioned retail. one of the things that's really lacking in mission bay is retail, neighborhood serving retail. i know people who live out there. they, you know, they have a long ways to go just to buy some bread or get their haircut or go to the cleaners, and those kinds of things would make it a much more livable neighborhood. it sounds like you've got the possibility of that being part of your project. yes, we do. i don't know if on the visual

can be brought back up. i can take it to the map. there are other things hationv at mission bay that will help dramatically with what you're describing. if you look at your map, the red line represents the 3rd street light rail that travels, but due west one block, lining fourth street is all ground floor retail in that area. and that area of residential is building out right now. we're excited because we'll have the residential dense ithv and the campus uses fourth street as well. traversing that back and forth between the campus and the caltrain station. and, so, we do believe that we're on the verge of having that next wave of retail. we have some up along king street, but it's a very different feeling. it's not as -- king street in many ways is like the off ramp of 2 80. so, it's a very wide street. it's hard for some of that retail. where this is a narrower street with two drive lanes, two parking on each side and then a bike lane on each direction. so, i think it's going to have

a better neighborhood feel and be anchored by all that new residential -- we have over a thousand units under construction right now. >> i noticed there was available retail. i haven't been out there for a few months, whether any of those have been leased. it looks like it's more on the east side of fourth street than the west side. yeah, we finally have construction on the west side commencing. once we get both sides activated we'll start to see the tenants fill in. >> and the other thing i was going to comment on, i see your landscaping and it looks like there's going to be landscaping that's important. the other thing about mission bay, it's a windy area. yes. >> and it's an area that can look pretty hairy. the more you can put soft features, lawns, trees, things that make it look more inviting that would be really helpful. one thing, it's not your project but i'm kind of concerned about 4 99 illinois. when we approved that -- it's been there for probably fives five years. i think we approved it 10 years ago. * there was supposed to be a lawn area, a green area that extended from the front of that

all the way to terry francois boulevard ask then onto the bay and nothing has been put out there. it's not your concern, but i'm wondering sort of restrictions we have in mission bay on these plans we approve, and they're supposed to put in landscaping, at least in this case it wasn't done. so -- yeah, i can speak to there is open space directly adjoining it that's actually going to be constructed over the next two years. i don't know if that's what you're referring to or if you're referring to more something that's on-site. but we do hold responsibility for all the park spaces throughout mission bay. and while not the subject today, we feel very strongly about the importance that of and we appreciate your comments. a lot of the open spaces on block 40 have been positioned on the east side of the building to help shelter it from the wind you describe. >> that's where it was supposed to be. it looks like from my plans from the past, it was a parcel that was their responsibility. i'm not really sure or whoever is responsible. there might have been a city project sponsor joint effort.

i don't really remember the details of it. but i know mission bay boulevard or whatever the big divider with the lawn area, it's coming along. yeah, we're starting to work from both ends towards the middle. thank you, commissioner. >> thank you. the only other thing i wanted to ask about is continue to work on design. i like the modulated heights, the way the buildings are different heights. i just -- the way it addresses, you know, somebody, one of the commenters who wasn't in favor of it didn't like the architecture. everything is sort of angular. there aren't any rounded corners that would probably be nice if we worked on a little bit of that and had some buildings that, you know, softened the appeal. there are all these really sharp angles to the architecture which i think could be made more appealing if they were a little bit more rounded in some spots. that's just my take on it. and i'm sure other commissioners have comments, too, but thank you.

thank you. >> commissioner borden. >> yeah, [speaker not understood]. i don't have an issue with the office allocation. i do think the five story buildings look like parking garages. they're not very -- they're just kind of large, square -- the five story one, kind of podium buildings that connect larger buildings just seem -- they're not -- they need to be broken up a little bit. they feel like giant boxes kind of dropped next to the more, i guess the more visually interesting taller buildings. so, maybe just -- i'm not an architect and other people can probably better suggest modulation. but doing something with those buildings in particular to make them more inviting. i mean, and looking at the ground floor doesn't look like -- there aren't awnings and signs on them yet. it doesn't look inviting for retail space. so, that's just something i'd

think about, some design issues. but otherwise i think it's, you know, it fits in our guidelines of being a good project. >> commissioner moore. >> this is an extremely difficult site to build on. i regret that the project would be asking for variances partially because it sits so close to the freeway and seems to be very bulky and asking for variances may potentially further promote bulkiness. it isn't a sales force. it isn't the type of break in building vernacular and building expression i had hoped for. but i acknowledge that the site poses challenges which are not easy to resolve. i think there are other people who will continue to work with this outline of 8 points and i will just refrain my comments to saying that i would be watchful foria