[BTinSF]

Calatrava waves adios to Transbay competition
San Francisco Business Times - May 25, 2007
by J.K. Dineen

The development team led by the dazzling Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava has dropped out of the Transbay Terminal and Tower design competition, ending a bid many observers considered a favorite to win the contest.

Boston Properties, the developer Calatrava was working with, informed the Transbay Joint Powers Authority on Monday that the team was withdrawing from the juried competition, according to a TJPA spokesman.

The Calatrava team is the second high-profile architect jettisoned since five design teams originally jumped into the pool. The other, a team with Sir Norman Foster as lead designer, was not invited to join the final round of bidders because Foster did not show up at a pre-qualification meeting and jurors felt the team was underprepared.

Three teams remain in the competition. They include architect Skidmore Owings Merrill and Rockefeller Group Development Corp.; Richard Rogers Partnership with developer Forest City Enterprises; and architect Pelli Clarke Pelli with Hines as developer.

"The TJPA is very thrilled we have three world-class competitors for the Transbay and we're sorry for the group that decided not to bid because we think it's a signature development," said a TJPA spokesman.

David Meckel, director of planning and former dean of architecture at the California College of the Arts, said Calatrava's departure is "nothing to lose sleep over." He noted that global superstar architects are prone to jumping into multiple high-profile competitions simultaneously with the expectation that a large percentage will fall through.

"Is Calatrava one of the most distinctive architects and engineers in the world? Yes. Would it be cool to have that kind of innovation in the Bay Area? The answer to that is yes. But these are all really good choices."

Sources said that Boston Properties may have decided that the Calatrava design would be economically unfeasible. Calatrava has a reputation for designing structures that, while beautiful, are exorbitant and sometimes impractical. His bridge on the Canal Grande in Venice was three times over budget and the architect filed a lawsuit against the city of Bilbao, Spain, after changes were made to a bridge at the airport he designed.

Boston Properties didn't return calls seeking comment.

jkdineen@bizjournals.com / (415) 288-4971

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfranci...ml?t=printable