A city commission has approved more time and taller residential buildings to accommodate the transfer of 2 million square feet of commercial space from one of FivePoint Holdings stalled projects to another.
The shift of the commercial space from the developer’s Hunters Point Shipyard site will go toward a newly conceived “innovation district” at its 280-acre Candlestick Point project, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Approval for the changes came from the city’s Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure, which also signed off on extensions for the development of the project.
“These types of projects are very large in scale — the infrastructure investment is significant before you can build a single vertical building, and the time limits were running out due to the delays,” Lila Hussain, the city’s senior project manager, told the Chronicle. “So we need to extend those time limits in order to somewhat restart the clock on Candlestick Point, and so that we have enough tax increment financing in order to reimburse (the developer) for public infrastructure and other qualified costs.”
The changes are expected to clear the way for the project to start sometime next year if the city’s Planning Commission and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors agree. The Planning Commission is slated to take up the matter on Sept. 12.
The switch would be accommodated by a rejiggering of the projected 7,200 residential units, with buildings between 120 and 180 feet now approved.
FivePoint’s original plan, approved more than 10 years ago, for Candlestick Point called for about 7,000 residential units and 1 million square feet of commercial space. The project, along with the nearby Hunters Point Shipyard project, was hamstrung by delays and challenges ranging from environmental remediation to San Francisco politics and market conditions.
The developer said the innovation district is a replacement for a previously planned retail center, and is designed as a draw for biotech companies as tenants.
Bivett Brackett, who chairs the city’s Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure, was the sole vote against the changes. Bracket said she was “disappointed” that a proposed 75,000-square-foot performing arts facility was pared back to 5,000 square feet, and said requirements for affordable units range too high.
“It actually represents incomes of $175,000 and above, with the average income in Bayview being close to about $35,000 per year,” she said.