>> i think that first off the color combination is very, very good, but do we have any material here which we are going to be using? >> if you have the material to show you, yes. we do have the material board. and he is picking it up and will bring it over. and the colors have been chosen to compliment the building 101. which is in a similar color scheme. so he can... >> yeah. >> and pass it out. >> it is beautiful. yeah. >> and i know that this is a very affordable, you know, for the artist. but what does it do for what they are paying now and what they are going to pay after it is built? >> so, the difference between

what they are paying now and what they will be paying in the future depends on each individual situation. and there is a number of artists as i have mentioned that pay very low rates because they have been up on the shipyard in a long time and the rates have not increased and many of the artists that pay close to what the rent will be in the new building and it depends on each individual situation. >> and the rent is close to what they are paying now? >> for some artists it will be and some artists it means an increase of 50 percent or more. >> is it possible that we have some subsidy, like a couple of people mentioned? do we have any room for that? >> so, this community benefit, that lanar agreed to us to provide the replacement space for existing artists, and what we have been trying to do was the limitations of what can be done to a building design, was to address the affordability

issue by certain measures, so with have asked lanar to make the building as energy efficient as this possible, and including up front investments and they are putting into the building, like the led lights, and to make sure that ongoing, expenses will be as low as possible. and often, in the energy efficient, and fixtures and the bathrooms and so as far as possible measures have been taken and to make sure that the rents, and will be as low as it can be, and into the future, the committee benefits agreement, specifies to the formula, how the rent is supposed to be calculated and it is really just covering what it requires to run and operate the building, and capital reserves and nothing in excess of that. and so the building, we believe is it as affordable as it can be and looking comparable spaces not just now, as rents

have really tremendously increased in the last few years, but even a few years back, the rent is well, below what studios go for in the city. >> and additionally, we have, tweaked the designs to respond to affordable concerns from the artists for example, the slopes have been revised several times to make sure that the artists that said that my current space, and the current size of my space and the current rent i will have a problem but if i reduce the space i could afford it, but the majority of the people that have been communicating to us have been indicating that through a reduction of size, that will not inhibt their work, they would be able to afford to move into the new building. and there was a very small number of people that we either got a response or communicated with them in person it was six or 7 people, who indicated that

they would still be a problem, lorna is one of them and we have been meeting with her at several locations and i and star has and the developer has. and the last indication that i had received from her prior to this meeting is that she can afford a space at 2500 space with the new current rate, which is a slight reduction from what she has as the current rent rolls shows 2600 square feet. and the only additional remedy that is available is if the funds that star will fund raise for, lanar is indirectly contributing to the funds by putting in solar on the building that is correct me if i am wrong, and it is a $300,000 investment. and that will provide savings of $20 to $30,000 a year, which is in addition to the

fund-raising that star will do to create these funds to benefit the artists. and who will be eligible the subsidy so that they can transition into the building. and it is everyone's interest to make sure that everyone can move into the building and we have been working really hard with everyone to accommodate that. and it is much as it is possible within to address those issues within the building and designs, and that is what we are looking at today, and a design of the building and so as much as it is possible to address any affordability concerns with the building designs it has been done. >> thank you. >> commissioner ellington. >> i will make sure that the questions are about the actual designs of the building. >> i have a question about the relocation, and who is the... and the relocation, yes. >> i wanted to know if there

was an analysis done on total number of the expenses that will incur and to operate the actual building compared to the inside or the revenue that the building will receive through the rents and we are assuming that is the only income ren new. >> that will be poibted to kim and that is more of a relocation question. >> and so i will try to answer that question directly. >> we did an analysis of what we thought that the operating expenses were going to be for the building and did a detailed analysis and based on the square footage, and the rent, is basically, a composite of what the operating expenses are going to be, plus assumptions

about a capitol replacement reserve that we want to fund so that over time that this need to be replaced or have major repairs. >> the affordability comes down to coming up with the next dollars that will be needed to subsidize the rents for folks. >> can we have that report and i know that there are a couple of plans back in front of us and is that possible to have the full on analysis. >> the operating expenses. >> sure. >> yes. >> okay. >> i guess that the next question is about the design, of the actual building, and i think that it is great that the solar panels are there to answer the questions about the general roof top activation and what was the rationale behind having one lobby space on the front. >> on the gallery? >> yes. >> as opposed

ingh mondejar >> my last question is about the plaza and the parking situation. little concerned about that just as a comment. my question is -- maybe i have to come down and actually see what that looks like, but you said cars can fit in between the actual trees? >> one of the requests of the artist was to provide as much parking as possible and so one way to accommodate that -- on a day-to-day basis there's probably through the various vestibules located around the site enough parking space to accommodate sort of day-to-day usage, but when there are larger events, now with the new gallery for example when you have a little bit of overflow,

the request was that we design a plaza that could accommodate that overflow. the expectation is not that day-to-day people will be parking in the plaza, but we've designed it in a way that it can accommodate it in a way should that need arise. we've been working with our landscape architect to define -- to design some areas of differentuation so it doesn't feel the plaza is an extension. it's a unique space that's intended to serve for seating and gathering and from time to time parking. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. >> i wanted to -- i don't know if these are questions, but i'm a little troubled by the testimony. i'm not troubled by the

presentation. i think i applaud the effort. it sounds like -- i mean, i like the design. i think all what you've described in terms of trying to accommodate the artist and making sure space is available, et cetera, is all great, but i'm troubled by the fact that not everyone -- doesn't sound like everyone's going to be able to move in because of economic reasons and -- but i hear two sides of that. i'm not sure if i'm hearing that correctly. on the one hand i heard no artist is going to be left behind, but then i also heard that when you come down to it, there's about six or seven people, i presume, artists that had -- when everything was said and done, are having concerns about the ability to move in. i want to make sure -- maybe you're not the right person to answer some of these questions, but if that's the case, i'm actually -- i mean, i don't

know if this is the time to mention motions, but i'd like to have more information now about the folks that are -- sounds like are being left behind before i vote on this. >> yes, as you mentioned there was a handful of artists with communicated with us in response to our intent to move survey [inaudible] artists want to move in and -- but some of them had communicated that affordability is a concern and some have communicated that downsizing is not an option because they need a space as big as it is so at the end of the day it means they would have a hard time affording it. others didn't indicate whether or not they put -- or could not downsize so that may still be an option for some of those

people. i can only repeat what i already said, that if we have and we will continue to work with all these artists and we have asked for -- we are taking additional time to reach out also to the folks who haven't responded to make sure that this building will fit artist's needs as much as it can, but there are certain limitations that we have to work with and one of them is an operating -- like -- or cost are required to run these buildings that are kind of, like, the minimum threshold. we've tried to lower that as much as we can so we'll work with our venture partner and work in optimizing the design. >> i don't want to interrupt you, but wanted to ask, what was the notice in terms of what

those costs -- you know, that economic mess, if you will that folks have to take on -- how much advance notice, opportunity to mitigate. >> when did hey hear about the rent? >> how deep were the conversations, is there any room for conversation and why are we not having those conversations before we're taking it? >> so kim with [inaudible] early estimate on what she thought the rent would be based on the very first draft schematic design in article 4 in 2012 and she said rents would range between $1 and $1.20 and that's been communicated to artists over time. as designs come finalized she came up with something actually, like, in the middle of that range, $1.11 right now.

and so that has been -- she had with artists early this year in february and that was included in our survey so that was the time where we could give them a number and based on the current, like, space they would see what the rent impact would actually be because i could see how this range made it a little bit big for people, even though they've been hearing it for a couple of years. but in february was when it was communicated to all artists repeatedly through the survey, through email, we followed up by a telephone, left voicemails for all the artists who didn't respond in a set time. we extended the same because we wanted to make sure we heard from everyone. >> and actually, just to sort of speak to the design of the

building itself, ventura partners who conducted the initial performa work included a list of items they felt would be important to include into the design. the vast majority of those were included to make sure we were able to hit the projections she provided early on. in addition to some of the energy efficient features such as, you know, touchless plumbing fixtures and individual level controls of heating and lighting, there were lots of capitalized costs provided upfront such as led lights, which in effect buys down the replacement of those fixtures so there's less maintenance to maintain them.

we've gotten pretty close. we're right in the 90 percentile. i've been out to the site, i've visited the space, i've walked it with her and we went through a number of iterations in the design specifically to accommodate a space that she said she could afford. this was the first time that i've heard that she's not able to be accommodated in a space. i mean, we've spent a lot of

design time solely focused on her area, which is included in your packet so i understand some of the things that came up today, but i really think that this is a truly unique outcome in that we've -- you know, we're well below what comparable space is going for in the city and i think that's worth noting. >> commission erer mondejar. >> i can tell you've spent a lot of time in trying to make this work and trying to accommodate all the artists, and i want to commend you for that. i have some questions. i want to come to, you know,

down to how many -- are there any artists being displaced and how many? >> until artists sign or don't sign leases, we can't say if anyone is or isn't being -- >> but those who have responded the your intent to move survey, do you have an indication of how many who said they will move or be accommodated? >> that's the tricky thing about the survey. everyone said they'd move. no one has said that they would not move into the building. everyone wants to move into the building. for some people it's more challenging than for others and some people have very clearly said that we can't afford the current size of the studio at the current rent rate. >> yeah, i understand that. so how many artists are we talking about first of all. i want to get a number in my head. how many artists are we trying to accommodate overall for this

building. >> it's 130 studios and 140 artists because some artists share spaces. >> you don't really know how many will be displaced or cannot afford to move in. you don't have a number until they sign a lease. >> yeah, i mean, for one of two of the artist have responded to the survey indicating they may have a problem, but so far the six people who said they can't afford the rent and want to work with us for a smaller space so they can afford the rent. >> until they sign leases we won't really know? >> yeah. i mean, we've been very clear with the survey we conducted

wasn't legally binding so we can't ask people to sign leases right now because we are tweaking the floor plans to accommodate people who want changes. it's always been very clear we're collecting information and nothing they're telling us is legally binding because we can't. >> the artists who are going to be moving or you're accommodating, do they have to qualify for -- there was a mention earlier about qualifying to be able to move or for the space. it's based on -- i know this is below market, but they have to qualify for the space; am i correct? >> so every artist who is currently a tenant in a building is entitled to move into the new space. >> regardless of income. >> regardless of income. >> to your question, no, there are no income requirements that would be imposed on the existed

artists as 140 artists to move into the space. >> once they've moved into the space are they required to maintain -- >> no, there is no affordability threshold. i think what you're referring to are the funds that star is raising to help artists who despite all efforts still have financial difficulties to move into the building so for these artists they would somehow to prove they could not afford it -- before they could get a subsidy for star. >> once they're accommodated they could stay forever. >> yes. >> and maybe subject to some rental increase depending on the situations or costs. >> mm-hm. >> is part of the community

benefit include moving expenses from the current location over there? >> yes. >> business cards, letter head, all that associated with moving a few hundred feet or off site for those who choose not to go off. >> i'm looking at the continuity. we're disrupting their lives and businesses and there's going to be income loss and certainly this is part of the process, so i was just looking at the continuity that once they do qualify and move to the spaces that they're assigned or able to -- that meet their needs, then they -- they can choose to stay there forever and have that, you know, rental situation. >> mm-hm. >> they don't have to re-certify every year or to qualify, no income -- just want to clarify that. the other thing i wanted to say

-- because eventually the building will be turned over to the mayor's office of housing, after am i correct? >> the building will transfer to the city, probably the department of real estate in the city. >> not necessarily the mayor's office -- >> housing successor, that's affordable housing. >> this one is commercial. the other one last question, and i think it's for mr. spydy. you said something about the roof blend. can you elaborate on that? >> the roof plan is designed to accommodate [inaudible] which are solar panels which will offset the expenses of the building so to maximize the reductions to operating costs we've designed it in a manner that it will take up as much of

that plan a ccommodating other things, but we're really looking to maximize the vast majority of the roof for solar panels. >> so that it could somehow help lower the operating costs of -- >> specificly for that -- one way to look at items of that nature is that we're essentially paying down operating costs over a period of time upfront. >> i want to go back to -- i want to get a sense -- how much are they paying for rent now for -- let's say miss [inaudible] because she's the one who has a nature problem -- she needs a large space to accommodate her beautiful collection, which i agree should somehow be maintained and supported and continue the history of san francisco. so without -- i --

>> the lowest rent is below 40 cents, i think. 39 cents is the actual lowest, which is a bit of an outlier. the highest is -- >> can you convert that to -- >> well, depends on the size -- >> the average size. >> well, studios range from 110 square feet to 3,000. it's really hard to average. >> at 500 square feet you're talking about [inaudible]. >> and transferring to the new location which will have an increase of -- >> [inaudible]. >> because that's increase, right? >> correct. >> it's roughly moved to -- >> okay. thank you. >> one second. we've asked specifically about

your [inaudible] willing to share [inaudible]. >> what is the square footage? >> [inaudible]. >> thank you for supplying that information. >> thank you. >> did you have other -- >> that was my last question. thank you. >> i have a couple and then of course if anybody else has continued questions. okay. i'm going to start off by saying i don't know that i can support a decision on schematic design today and i'll ask my questions and tell you why. the first one is has been

through a series of negotiations with the community including the cac and star and other members. my first question is it sounds like there are still some artists who we're working to accommodate. we have an artist here who says your cell phone bill says she needs 2500 square feet, but i don't see any studios in the current schematic design that are any bigger than 1500 square feet. is there still work being done to move space around to accommodate different artists and what they may or may not be able to afford? >> so answering specifically that question about that space and a building that's big enough to accommodate, yes,

there is. it's a configuration of three spaces on the plaza level. all three of them have the number 201, if i'm correct, and together they have 2500 square feet. >> already that is a change to schematic design. please, thank you, yes. already that is a change to the schematic design. if we were to approve that today -- no? explain to me why i'm wrong. >> we've worked -- loraina is by far the biggest user on site so we've worked specifically with her to find a configuration that accommodated her needs and we've provided three or four different options on different floors. some of her needs included roll up doors because she has

plaster deliveries that require the use of a form lift. she requires the use of water so we agreed to include water in her space which is a unique condition throughout the entire building. and throughout the course of those conversations, we were told that the 2500 square feet that we were providing was consistent with her needs and -- >> ma'am, i'm going to have to ask you to leave the room if you continue to interrupt. i can't listen to two people at the same time. thank you very much. please continue. >> the currently configured space we were told was both affordable and satisfactory from her needs. >> i don't want to focus on one circumstance because it gets to my larger question. i'm not sure to adjudicate the particular issue of one tenant being able to be accommodated. i wa