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 for variances on many

of the points, possibly [inaudible] prescribed building heights. tower separation, all of which make the project look even more compact in its current setting. i do regret, and i have to say it, that we continue to create a very suburban experience in mission bay. i had hoped that at some point we would be talking about slightly more challenging architectural resolutions which indeed provide some interest and some tension of overall composition of the build out. it's not where we're discussing. we're here to support and acknowledge the office allocation and i will be supporting that. >> commissioner wu. >> i agree with the concerns around the suburban esthetic. i think it might have to do with the two podiums being at the same height and the two towers being at the same height. i'm not sure what it is, and i

would defer to either the department or the other commission on that, but i think either breaking it up further or some other way of articulating that this is really in the city and that it has -- you know, i think we've learned from the billions we've already seen go up in mission bay and to take some lessonses learned how to make it a little bit more -- i want to say livable, but i dislike that word. but [speaker not understood] relate to the building more. but office allocation i'm supportive. >> commissioner hillis. >> so, i'm supportive of the project, too. i wanted to comment on mission bay in general. we hear the same things a lot. office park, suburban. we were talking a little bit on the break that mission bay is 50% built or so.

you know, now is a good time for maybe the agency and the cac and whoever owns the land, you know, places you sold it and places you haven't to come back and figure out what tweakses the mission bay to make it a little -- so we don't repeat ourselves every time we come back. the best way to make the buildings look like they're separate lots, make them separate lots for one. we don't do our retail on [speaker not understood]. seawall lot 337 adds to that debate and the four sales sites. i want to encourage those who are working on mission bay to make some corrections midway to try to you know, alleviate some of the concerns that are constantly raised about mission bay when these projects come up. but i think that the office allocation is fine and you've done a good work, kind of breaking up this block-long

building into smaller chunks, so. >> commissioner sugaya. >> is it one of the constraints the height limit? >> the height limit is 160 feet, but there are limits as to where 160 foot buildings can occur. i think the base height limit is 90, is that right? so, overall height limit is 90 about points of 160. so, it's only in that range. >> yeah, i think i understand why that happened, you know, because of the hill or whatever. but i think it was a missed opportunity that the height wasn't taller and that might help alleviate some of the sort of boxiness of the buildings. not that i'm one for towers in a park, but, you know, there could have been more design opportunities i think presented if the heights were a little bit higher.

and maybe it may not happen, but we might want to follow-up on commissioner hillis' suggestion that it might be a good opportunity now that there's been build out to the extent that there has been to take another look at the whole thing. >> i think -- one of the other issues that people raised off of mission bay is the large block size, too. it may be that we have the opportunity to look at that as well with the remaining sites that there is a way to break up the blocks a little more. if not, literally break them up with streets, break them up with passages or whatever. that's another thing that we've been thinking about in the planning department as well. >> commissioner antonini. >> you know, i think some buildings have been more successful than others out there. and i should know the address of this building, but to the north of the gap old navy headquarters is a building that was a spec building. i don't know if they found a tenant. they told me they might go in

there, they may need a bigger space. i think that's a very attractive building. the use of the colors, it's a little darker, make things all pale, white, it all looks the same. then again, you can get some colors that look a little too crazy. but, you know, i think that's a part of it. and i mentioned the rounding of corners to try to cut the angularity and might tend to make the buildings a little more attractive. because there are -- you know, it's sort of always going to be a quasi-suburban -- i don't like the term because of the nature of mission bay. it's just going to be different than densely packed city blocks in the financial district or in even the area south of market which are longer blocks, but they're still pretty densely packed with previous industrial buildings. and it's going to have more of a separation. it's going to have more parking. it's going to have a lot of things that are, you know, but i think there are some very successful suburban parks and some that aren't very successful.

i mentioned to bo earlier, the hacienda park in pleasanton, if you've seen the architecture, smooth looking buildings and very well landscaped as opposed to some that are not at all very well done. so, i know you've all driven around to these various places and seen what works and what doesn't so i would encourage you to look at others and try to take some of the best elements out so that maybe your buildings stand out a little bit from some of the existing buildings in mission bay, being a little more distinctive looking, perhaps having some other features in them. >> commissioner borden. >> [inaudible]. >> second. >> and instruct staff to continue working with, i guess, the successor agency on design and kind of picking up on some

of the themes that people brought up here. >> on that motion, commissioners, to approve with conditionses instructing staff to continue working with the successor agency, commissioner antonini? >> aye. >> commissioner borden? >> aye. >> commissioner hillis? >> aye. >> he will commissioner moore? >> aye. >> commissioner wu? >> aye. >> charles: commission president fong? >> aye. >> that passes unanimously 7 to 0. excuse me, and places you under item 9, case no. 2012.1424c, 550 valencia street, request for conditional use authorization. >> good afternoon, president fong and commissioners. cory teague for staff. the proposal before you is to extend the hours of operation for the existing restaurant doing business as west of pecos 2:00 a.m. daily to be consistent with hours of operation in the neighborhood

commercial transit district. [speaker not understood]. the planning commission originally approved the restaurant in september 2011 and limited the hours of operation to 11:00 p.m. sunday through thursday and 12:00 a.m. friday and saturday. during the original conditional use authorization hearing the planning commission encouraged the project sponsor to operate for at least six months and then if desired, request an extension of operating hours through a new conditional use authorization. since opening the restaurant in may 2012 there have been no complaints filed against the restaurant with the planning department, the department of building inspection, the health department or the california department of alcoholic beverage control. the corridor of valencia street between 15th and 18th streets and the corridor of 16th street between mission and guerrero streets represents the commercial corridors and immediately surrounding the project site. these corridors contain approximately 38 restaurants and six bars. only one restaurant within this area, which is lamone at 524 valencia have has hours of

operation limited by the planning commission. stated hours for these restaurants range by business and day, they each have the right to stay open until 2:00 a.m. daily. regarding public comment on this project, the project sponsor held community outreach meetings regarding this request on october 23rd, 2012, and then again february 6th of this year. the department did receive four letters of support for the project, two from neighboring businesses, one from the valencia street merchant association, and one from adjacent residential owner on [speaker not understood] street. the department received no comments in opposition to the project. in order for the existing restaurant to operate beyond its hours of operation as currently limited, the commission must grant conditional use authorization to allow it to extend its hours of operation. the department believes the project is necessary and desirable because it will promote the continued operation of an established locally owned business and contribute to the viability of the overall valencia street nct and because the proposal will not result in a net change in the number of eating and drinking

establishments within the valencia street nct or displace a retail that provides convenience or goods in the neighborhood, therefore the department recommends approval with conditions. that concludes my presentation and i'm available for questions. >> thank you. project sponsor. hello, commissioners and president. my name is dylan [speaker not understood], owner of 550 valencia llc also known as western pecos. thank you for letting me speak today. i first am before you [speaker not understood] this project in june of 2011. our project was not approved at that hearing. and i returned in september of 2011 after performing extensive outreach to the neighboring residents, business owners and community groups in the valencia nct. while we were granted conditional use at that time, our operating hours were unexpectedly restricted. we thought a 1:00 a.m. closure time with all customers off the premises by 2:00 a.m.. we were told by the commission

president to return some time after business to remove the restriction and i stand before you to do that here today. since opening west of pecos we had no noise complaints, no alcohol beverage violation and no police issues. we are in a single story building with no residential neighborses above us and have a good relationship with the neighbors to the rear of the building. to one side there is a single story furniture store that's closed at night and the other side are portable library restaurant and blondie's bar and grill to the establishments on the block during the evening. [speaker not understood]. i have p become an active member in the merchant community and sit on the board of the merchants business association and a newer group known as the valencia corridor merchants association. for the hearing today i personally contacted neighboring business such as kass nova, blondie's bar [speaker not understood], double dutch bar, [speaker not understood] general store restaurant and [speaker not understood] restaurant. i posted signs on the street

behind our location and we noticed residents and businesses within 300 feet of the premises as required by the department. i've had several meetings with captain moser at the mission station to discuss enforcement issues and he has remained in support of this change. the captain was also kind enough to attend a community meeting held in october. it was also attended by the owners of blondies, casanova and [speaker not understood]. i also held a meeting february 6 after the poster went up to discuss any remaining issues and we had no attendees. you will note there are no letters of opposition in your packets and i have not received any comments since the mailing of the poster went up. this change is important to us as a respectable restaurant in the neighborhood. we've had -- we have a comfortable setting with diners staying often 2 hours per visit. [speaker not understood] we had to stop seating at 9:00 p.m. or risk asking customers to leave the restaurant at 11:00 p.m.. this is not consistent with the dining style of the

neighborhood and puts a [speaker not understood]. the early closure creates a dead space many times, we have people taking advantage of numerous nearby night life options. i witnessed people youthxing our gated entrance as a urinal and other activities. we seek a closing request [speaker not understood], with operating hours 2:00 a.m. to give diners ample time to leave the restaurant. we do not plan to extend food service past [speaker not understood] and generally stop seating customers at 11:00 p.m.. [speaker not understood]. please consider removing our restricted hours for west of pecos. thank you. >> is there any public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioner borden. >> yes, i live near this establishment and have had the opportunity to patronize it. it's actually really very nice and comfortable environment, large dining room and their bar is very separated from the dining room. in fact, i watched the giants

win the world series at this location. and you could only see the tv in the bar area, very separate in the back of the area [speaker not understood]. they do a -- really nicely done, establish it southwestern style, different than the other kinds of restaurants on the street. the doors are always shut. they're really respectful. i don't see any sort of crazy activities, at least nice little fire pits outside that are connected the recessed entrance which is quite nice. i think it's been a positive attribute to the neighborhood. so, i would move to approve with conditions. >> second. >> commissioner moore. >> it's actually a positive experience to listen that something works. and i think extending the trial time the way this was done and coming back and not hear one single voice of opposition is kind of inspiring to me, so, i am very supportive of approving this extension, particularly this customer in the corridor

anyway, so. >> on that motion, commissioners, to approve with conditions, commissioner antonini? >> aye. >> commissioner borden? >> aye. >> commissioner hillis? >> aye. >> commissioner moore? >> aye. >> commissioner sugaya? >> aye. >> commissioner wu? >> aye. >> and commission president fong? >> aye. >> so moved, commissioners, that motion passes unanimously 7 to 0. and places you under item 10 for case no. 2012.1353c, 975 bryant street, request for conditional use authorization. >> good afternoon, once again, president fong, commissioners. cory teague, department staff. in place of diego sanchez who couldn't be here because of a death in the family. [speaker not understood] doing business as orchard supply

hardware in a 33,000 square foot building that is currently occupied by another formula retail use doing business as pacific sales that sells domestic appliances. orchard supply hardware primarily serve retail do it yourself and commercial customers and core products consist of merchandise needed for recurring home maintenance and improvement in categories such as hardware, paint, tools, and garden. as part of the project plant nursery will be added -- also be added to the roof. other changes include a change in signage, change in paint, added landscaping in the parking area, a new bryant street entrance and an opening of the windows along brie street to increase transparency. orchard supply hardware projects to hire up to [speaker not understood]. within this configure with us zoning district consisting of four blocks and one partial block stretching from bryant street to barry street, there are several other formula retail uses although there are no other hardware stores,