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 state building, but we should not be too harsh on the aaa. they dealt with the culture of the time. i just finished a history of the civic center in the postwar period. it will give you a flavor of how other people treated the buildings in the civic center at the time. this is a report on city hall where they discussed lowering the ceilings and putting in the

floor tiles. what has happened tonight with aaa is not quite out of step with the time. i urge you to proceed with this. it is not out of step with the area. president fong: thank you. next speaker, please. >> i am here to reiterate spur's support. our endorsement is reserved for projects of citywide importance, with excellent planning that will ensure a safe, appealing, and useful urban setting for the people who live and work in san francisco. we support the existing 400 foot office tower being converted into 399 multi-residential family units. the area is extremely well served by transit.

the ratio of less than 0.3 parking spaces per unit, combined with over 100 bike spaces, is welcome. this is consistent with other stretches of the neighborhood. the proposal to strip the tower of its concrete skin and replace it with a glass curtain wall is bold and elegant in its selection. color selection of the glass and pleasing window rhythms will be critical to the success of the design. we are glad the designers have maintained their simplicity inconsistency. these designs show creativity and promised to be a unique and lively space. views from atop the 29th floor will be extraordinary. through 12 -- the 12 foot glass windscreen will be thrilling. this is a design upgrade in a prominent location. it introduces a street level

retail. we urge you to move this project forward. thank you. >> my name is jim, and i am representing the height valley neighborhood association transportation and planning commission. we are enthusiastic in our support of this project. we feel this project keeps the feeling of the market octavia plan, encouraging transit- oriented areas to the nucleus of high-density housing. we found the design to be extremely exciting, and we urge the essence of the design, apred through the refinements. a simple, elegant design is

clearly an important piece of the success of this. as was mentioned, we are extremely proud of the leadership for having the affordable housing on site. this is a precedent we would like to see more people adhere to. about the only suggestion we had for the sponsor, as they raise their parking from 112 to 118 spaces -- we would almost suggest that they take a much more aggressive stand on their car share. we were suggesting they do 0 point to five -- they to 0.25 for the residents and do not designate for car share. clearly, this building and the type of resident they will appeal to is almost the poster child for a car share concept.

having more than three spaces would be desirable. that hardly takes away from our strong support for this project. we think that it, as previously mentioned by all speakers, will be a tremendous improvement both in use and aesthetics to this current unattractive space. thank you very much. >> my name is donald savoy. i am the executive director of the civic center community benefit district. in our pocket, you will have my endorsement letter. we strongly support the project for a variety of reasons. the community benefit district is charged to help the civic center area with implementation of services that will enhance the experience for residents, business owners, visitors, and

customers. we feel that activation of the area is a key component, considering the daytime population, the employees of the area, which completely leave. the nighttime population consists mostly of people attending concerts, ballet performances, etc.. mixing in this many residential units of completely, in a positive way, change the activity in that part of the district. ground-floor retail will also activate that corner. also, it does satisfy your planning initiative, in terms of the market and octavia plan. you could not get more high- density retail near transit than that property. it is uniquely situated. the idea of the infamous wind is -- winds along van ness -- everybody knows how overwhelming the can be. the architectural plans to

increase -- -- to diminish those win this will benefit the neighborhood. if you have any questions about the documents i have submitted, i will answer those questions. we urge you to move this forward and support it. thank you. >> good afternoon. danny campbell, sheet metal workers unit -- union. i am here to applaud this aesthetically beautiful building. it is going to revitalize the civic center. it will be energy efficient to boot. we strongly look forward to your approval and moving this forward. thanks very much. >> i am jim chapel.

i am an urban planner, representing myself. 12 years ago, i was part of a group of housing advocates, urbanists, community representatives, and developers who met with the mayor and his department heads to restart neighborhood planning and to prepare an underutilized land in buildings for housing development. this is why 100 van ness is here today. eight years of very hard work by your planning department and thousands of citizen hours resulted in the brilliant market octavia plan. this project is fully compliant with and implements the market octavia plan. two years ago, i worked on formation of the civic center community benefit district. one of the big issues in this neighborhood, as you have heard, is the lack of people on the streets most nights. conversion into 400 desperately-

needed housing units will put many more feet on the sidewalks throughout the neighborhood in the day and evening. there will be a new pedestrian- friendly retail ground floor, and a real ugly duckling will turn into a stunningly beautiful building. please approve the certificate compliance and grant the requested variances today. thank you very much. >> my name is julia sullivan, program manager at the housing action coalition. on behalf of our member organization, i would like to express our strong support for this excellent project. our members discussed this project recently. of particular merit to us was that it proposes taking a long- vacant office high-rise and

reclads it in a striking and beautiful way. it will help revive an underused part of van ness. this makes use of parking resources and does not build more. it conforms to the market and octavia plan area. it also provides 121 bike parking spaces and three city car share spaces. the 60 units of inclusionary housing deserves special recognition, as it helps create a truly mixed income community. we are very disappointed to learn their open requests made to delay this project for more study or more process. we cannot support this in any way. more delay of a design project like this does not serve the best interest of the city. we believe this proposal will be

a large benefit to this neighborhood, and we ask you to approve it without hesitation. thank you. president fong: is there any additional public comment on this item? seeing none, the public comment portion is closed. commissioner antonini: i think this is a wonderful project. i did receive the same correspondence from those interested in continuance, but i have contacted the project sponsor, and nobody is here to speak to it. those concerns can certainly be addressed after approval. it is regrettable that we do not have a aaa here anymore, but i think there would be in a better place if there were still in san francisco, but not in this building. this will improve the use of a building that had some challenges, and still does. i have read over the material. there is the desire to do the affordable housing on site.

we know there are costa hawkins tests. because we are giving density bonuses, we believe it will be allowed to happen. that is something we have no control over. i see the project sponsor has an alternative position if that cannot be done, which we cannot control. that addresses that. the second issue that came up -- it is really regrettable, what happened to the italian palazzo renaissance-style building at 150 van ness. i went there when aaa had all their facilities there, and i would get maps and other things when i took trips. it was a beautiful building on the inside. i said, how could this look so bad on the outside? now i know the history. i am not sure if the ownership

extends to 150 also. but are there plans to strip the skin off of that building and expose the original building? i do not really know whether it is part of this project, or whether it even is jointly owned. but whoever does obtain a building would be wise to expose the building, much as was done at the old chronicle building, where the brick is exposed and it is a much better looking building than was there before. i am very much in favor of the project. our most pressing need for housing is probably housing for families, with enough bedrooms, and possibly ownership. this is a very important need being satisfied. there are a lot of people who are predominantly singles or couples, renters, who will be working in the area. this satisfies that need, and perhaps takes a little more

pressure off that part of the housing market that is more appropriate for larger families. it does the same things that often we are criticized for approving -- market race -- market rate housing for condominiums. but the same thing applies to that. if buyers of those condominiums are not competing to take older units off the market and convert them into home ownership status, jeopardize in the rental market, it is all good. -- jeopardizing the rental market, it is all good. this puts eyes on the street. the 24-hour presence is a deterrence to crime. if people are living there, that are coming in and out. they are seeing activities on the streets that are less than ideal. they can report them to the authorities and ma