i will turf it it over to jesse herzog. >> when we started this entitlement about two years ago we used acid guy post the concept caused three c's and a successful development really needing to be able to balance, one being capital and it would be disengenius to say not to hit the returns for our partner investor pal calpers and then, three, code. working with the code and also

the principals -- principles of the planning department. that site is on tennessee street was locating housing right on the 3rd street rail. again the project is consistent with the umu zoning of the eastern neighborhoods. and it's also on the edge of an established neighborhood and serving as a transition point between residential and pdr to the south. consistent with the umu zoning. our original mass when we looked at the site came to 300 units if he we were building as big a project as possible.

over the two-year process we held about 15 meetings and landscape design charrette as well and summarized some of the main concerns, and some of them including the building being no monolithic and too dense and more need for open space. this is a look at our first pace of revising it and reducing density and dropping the boiling down to 275 units. we continue to break do you mean the massing and stepping back at the upper-levels, as well as separatinging from you are neighbors in the residential enclave and stepping back even further to about up to 64' wide setback from our neighbors to the north. this is a view of the code minimum for our mid-block passage, 20' where we started and commanding up to 64' wide

on tennessee street. and this is a section view of some of the challenges that we worked through with our neighbors to the north and again, an original massing and then ultimately stepping our boiling building back to create publicly accessible open space. project facts the planning department highlighted the majority of them. i would like to touch again that we are proposing to build 34 affordable units on-site. also doing one-to-one bike parking and again the project will be 43% family-oriented housing, two-bedrooms and larger and on that i will pass it over to anne fougeron. >> good afternoon commissioners we were really interested in sort of understanding the dog patch neighborhood. this is a transitional site as jesse suggests when you see the

actual maps shows it was once along the waterfront and as the waterfront got filled in, it sort of grew further and further away. one of the vestiges that remains of that site is the fact there is diagonal to the north of the site, which is really due to the factory that was there before that made the giant ropes for the boats. that became of what we thought about when we developed this scheme both in terms of architecture and in terms of landscaping of the diagonal is so prom not on the own this site to the norm and it's a big part of the alley. three conceptual edges rather than a block building because of the fact it goes from a rather industrial-quality right on 3rd street all the way down to tennessee, which is a much more residential in feel and has a cross down the hill -- a lot of these very nice edwardians and victorians. so the first zone we saw was on 3rd street, the buildings on

3rd are are much larger and more industrial feel. it relates more back to this sort of idea of the portage. so we developed architect there that we felt was more reminiscent of this. it's an oval building where the lobby and main lobby to the building and the building itself is wrapped in this kind perferrated metal skin that acts as a double buffer. also because there is is a lot of noise on 3rd street and make sure that the residents were setback a little more from the street. you can see the site plan with the main lobby with the amenity spaces at corner of mid-block alley way to make sure we get as much activity there and retail anchoring the other corner. as you turn to 23rd street we felted this area was more transitional and on the other

side it's pdr. it's a lot less developed and a lot less housing and thought we could introduce more mixed-use and anchor with retail space. then have a building where we have a very glassy corner; a lot of units facing the street to be able to animate the street and cut up the building into different parts to be able to breakdown the scale and try to kind of transition over to tennessee street. the buildings had a middle band that perforated and housing units that the community wanted to see that could be used in different ways and really accommodate different types of families and clients.

as you turn over to tennessee street, this is where the scale really breaks down here the street is much -- right now it's fairly undefined and not a sidewalk, but you go down the steps and enter dog patch neighborhood with the beautiful edwardian buildings. it also here has a number of townhouses that face directly to the street, off of the grade, with stoops to be able to provide that family housing that is also sort of protected. we're hoping to see tennessee street with the new sidewalk and [phra-pbtd/]ings to become plantings to become more active.

david fletcher is connected in the dog match neighborhood and worked on the 22nd street remodel. he worked with ounce same theme and those themes are back to the idea of cordage materials. this shows us some of the ideas for 3rd street and bike parking and pavings that can help create more life on the street. as you go around 23rd street there is a bulbus created -- more images of that. going down tennessee, there is

a lot more landscaping. and the mid-block alley, which is the highlight of the whole design is seen as a boardwalk that meets ada standards. so it will be a transformative environment. that shows you some of the images of that. there is a lot of historical pieces. the final pieces, great urban plaza off tennessee street that the community wanted with community benchs and bike shop. it has bbq and places really for the community to be able to meet with all of the residents and sort of enjoy their neighborhood. i am going let jesse give you a

few last words. >> we are out of time, but the commission can bring you back up to ask questions. opening up for public comment. [ reading speakers' names ]. >> good afternoon commissioners. my name is miguel and i am here to represent artists who are at 2660 3rd street >> we just want the planning commission to know that the city is going to be losing you avaluable resource for the creative community. our space in the building has been used as affordable artist studios for over a decade. many of these artists have gone on to have successful careers, exhibiting their work nationally and internationally, representing san francisco. one of these artists recently

gained tenure at san francisco state university. without affordable artist studio spaces is, local artists are forced to leave san francisco for other cities and we think that makes our city culturally poorer. we would just like to see some kind of conversation about offsetting our studio spaces in the proposed design, because affordable means different things for different types of people. so what is affordable for an artist is not necessarily the same as what is affordable for others. we also want to have some kind of stake in the planning process for when our building is demolished to have ample time to find other space in the

interim. thanks >> thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon commissioners my name is rob pool and i'm the project manager for the san francisco housing action coalition and i'm here to speak in support of the proposed project. agi capital projected to our committee last summer and we endorse it without reservations. 13% of these homes are below market rate, which comes out to 34 for affordable homes and it's well-served by transit as it's within walking distance of the station and 3rd street muni line of we like to commend the project team for working so well with the neighborhood over the past couple of years to come up with the design that is favorable to the neighboring residents and we really encourage you to approve this project without delay. thank you for your time. >> thank you.

next speaker. >> i really enjoyed that presentation and i have a little bit of money in calpers, so it was especially interesting. so this is my favorite project because 259 units is bigger than 111 or 83. but obviously i am sad to see those 40 units go and like i appreciate that the neighbors have legitimate concerns. but what about the 60 people that could have live there had? there was no way for them to have any input? in 2006-2007 i worked for a neighborhood association in

philadelphia and at that time the private market was desperate for money and due to residents fears of gentrification we did our part to make renovating expensive and time-consuming and succeeded in reductioning the amount of housing and. then the market crashed and we felt really dumb because we blew it. we had the to allow people to turn cash into housing. after the crash the money was gone, but everything that everyone had built was still there. it's hard to watch san francisco give up the opportunity to get thousands of units built for the public with no upfront cost to the public. i live in a building that is 150 years old. i expect the housing built now to last at leasts along. i think it's especially relevant for when people don't like the idea of new luxury housing. i have lived in luxury housing, as luxury housing 100 years ago. there were units in the '60s that people opposed that now

would be 40-year-old housing and that is exactly the kind of affordable housing people want. i don't want to be part of a problem for people 40, 80, 100 years down the line. thank you so much. >> thank you. susan. >> hi. i am not going say that this was an easy project for us to deal with. you know, as you know, dog patch is going through tremendous changes and that brings up a lot of stuff for people. but what we experienced with this developer in this probing was actually very exciting. because what they came to us with essentially was kind of scary. so it's interesting to be part of this process and dog patch embraces that.

i think we asked our developers to think about things that they don't initially think about and they come back to us with designs and solutions that actually serve the community. so we ended up unanimously supporting this project as well. and i ask you to do the same. thanks. >> thank you. is there further public comment? go ahead. >> hi, my name is mike katlin, current tenant in san francisco representer. i want to support this project for two reasons. the first because it increases housing units, which is what we need systematically and second, because it's of great benefit to the existing neighborhood. one of the biggest problems of living in the dog patch in my understanding is that you have to travel elsewhere in the city to gain access to lots of things, like entertainment and restaurants and this sort of project with a large number of units would enrich the units

with currents for its local businesses that would make it far more viable to have restaurants and entertainment in the area. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker. >> tom lloyd and i'm actual will ly one of the owners adjacent to the project. i was interested hearing that they contacted the neighborhood multiple times. granted i'm not a member of the dog patch neighborhood association. i work in the south bay. so i'm not around during the day and the other owners also -- they rent the units, basically i am the only one who lives there. so i'm just making a note that i wish -- i sent

them an email through their website a year-ago. and never heard anything back. so i wish we would had been more involved in the planning process. >> thank you. is there further public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioner antonini. >> i think this is also a well-planned and well-designed project. i would just ask that project sponsor continue to work with staff, with the architectural to make things come out in a tasteful manner. there is an effort to make the three separate parts of it look distinct and i certainly appreciate that. these sorts of things have to be carefully done to make them look correct, because they are not industrial; they are residential and so blending the two together is often a hard

thing to do, particularly the rounded unit might be one that needs a little more work. i think all things considered it's a well-done project. >> commissioner sugaya. >> i think the question of artists in san francisco is getting more publicity lately. there was just an article, i think it was in the chronicle that some techy firms have adopted or created a plan, something within the spaces, there either owner/leasing to accommodate a certain number of artists. i don't remember who the firms were and i don't know if there are conversations going on elsewhere in the city. i think this is a good subject for the staff to take a look at and for the city to see if there isn't any way to come up with some accommodation? i don't know if there is room in your development for

anything like that? but it would be nice to think about. i know it takes a great deal of subsidies and probably it may not come out in your pro forma, but it would be nice to think about it. i know that you are very concerned about your projects and how they fit within the communities. so i would encourage you to give that some thought. >> commissioner moore. >> i would like to commend staff for actually grouping all of these projects in one day, because i think it is very important for us to see projects of this kind in one day and compare across not just because of what the projects offer, but also hearing good coherent presentations about architecture. i think this project is an interesting project. i am supporting it and move to approve. >> second. >> commissioner bordern. >> yes, i just wanted to say the same thing. it's great to hear there was

such a collaborative process between the community and i know not everyone in the community, but you can't ever reach everyone it seems. but that you really made an effort. i remember seeing this project about a year-ago, when i was [spa-ebgs/]ing speaking at the hack and jesse presented it and it was interesting to see the changes from the process, too. i definitely [kph-ebd/] you and it's great to see developers working with the community. commend you and it's great to see developers working with the community. >> instructor: commissioner hillis. >> i echo what my colleagues said. we have seen this flex space

before. could you explain, project sponsor what it is? >> as you know, we first came up with when we were entitling 900 folsom, so the real interesting experiment in about three months we'll know. the first flex space unit will be for-rent in three months and it's residential with accessible. first and foremost you have to comply with bmr and you are aloud as an access use commercial. we worked with the community to ensure it doesn't become residential with big curtains and non-active streets. so it's all the 16' high ceilings and very open frontage that really encourage commercial and retail uses. so we will hopefully see success in three

months on folsom street. >> when you lease this or sell it, are there covenants that say you have to put in more of a commercial/retail type? >> there is no covenant. it's more encouraging commercial by design. >> right. >> and so again it's a grand [skp-efrplt/] and experiment and hopefully will be a positive one. >> we hope so too. in the alley, which is great, that is in the conditions of approval, forever publicly accessible. >> right and our ownership will maintain it. >> thank you. >> briefly, if i may, too, commissioner hillis. the project authorization, one of the exceptions allows them the flexibility allows them to change the amount of flex space. >> commissioner moore. >> it would be interesting for

staff to report back the flex space and if we could encourage it, because we're discovering many new angles how people are using space and what people are looking for? i would be interested to see real applications in terms of what comes forward. >> commissioners there is say motion and second to approve the project with conditions on that motion commissioner antonini? >> aye. >> commissioner borden? >> a commissioner hillis? >> aye >> commissioner moore? >> aye. >> commissioner [sa*-eug/] eau? >> aye. >> commissioner fong? >> aye. >> commission president wu. >> aye. >> that motion passes 7-0 and places you under discretionary review calendar. items 15a and b at 354-356 san carlos and request for mandatory review and rear yard,

et cetera. >> good afternoon, commissions. rich sucre, department staff. the application associated with the reconfiguration of two existing dwelling units at 354-56 s&p correlation street. on the west side of san carlos street between 0th and 21th street in rto-m zoning district and 40-x height and bulk district. the propose the project reconfigures two existing dwelling units so 254 san carlos would increase no to 1677 square feet and 356 san carlos street decreases in size from 857 square feet to 407 square feet. other aspects of proposed project include removal of the existing rear stair and deck, raising the existing building by 18 inch, construction of a

new one-story real estate horizontal addition with the second-story rear deck and facade alterations and sitework and would rehabituate and restore the primary fagaed by installing new horizontal wood siding and replacing non-historical windows with new sash windows. to-date the department has not receive any correspondence. the historic preservation reviewed of [speaker not understood] as their there appears to be no exceptional or extraordinary circumstances the department finds that the proposal is consistent with the planning code and recommends that the commission approve the project as proposed. this concludes my presentation. thank you. >> project sponsor.

>> good afternoon commissioners, i'm the architect for the project sponsor joliet nash who found this house in the liberty hills historic district. it's a moderate proposal, 21.5' wide, 75' wide deep lot that triggers the need for the variance. there is an extension into the legal required rear yard which is averaged to be 15' minimum and adjacent property is actually encroach even more. the properties on the side have been raised with garage. this property has a garage, but it's hard to access, so the owners wanted the building

raised slightly 18th. the family that intends to occupy the whole building is an extended family, and that is where grandmother is going to live. the certificate has been granted by the historic preservation commission and there is really not a lot else to explain about the project. it's going to be fully upgraded in the front, even though that wasn't the project sponsor's intent, but because it's an historic district and non-contributing building, and the extent of the request for the variance, dwelling unit merger triggered that review to be this compliance with the historic district. so that pretty much concludes what i have to describe about it. the owner is here, if you have any questions and i can answer questions of the commission. thank you. >> thank you.

is there any public comment on this project? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioner antonini. >> i think this is a good project and i agree with staff we should not take dr on it. i do have one point to make in the staff evaluation; it satisfies almost all of the criteria. with two exceptions. it is owner-occupied. it is not removing affordable housing. it's zoning is appropriate for both the neighborhood and zoned for that amount. there is no design or functional deficiencies, which i agree with. then on the next to the last one, staff felt it did not meet the requirement regarding number of bedrooms. but some of this has to do with the definition of a "studio." when the studio is considered a

bedroom or not? if it is, it adds a bedroom. if it's not, it is a push. and i think the way this criteria is, will they be equal or greater? i think they will be equal, because you lose two on one unit and add two on the other unit and even if you feel that the smaller unit is studio does not have a bedroomer it's still 2:2 and meets that category. so i would move to approve and not take dr and approve. >> second. >> commissioner sugaya. >> commissioners there is a motion and second to approve the project as proposed. (roll call) . >> that motion passes unanimously, administrator what say you? >> close public hearing