SAN FRANCISCO | Salesforce Transit Center

[tyler82]

Originally Posted by BTinSF

Ah, my man . . . if only, if only. We call 'em "Supervisors" and many of us disparage them with the term "stupidvisors."

This article's about mine (who happens to have a name familiar to Chicagoans except he spells it differently):



As it happens, he has said he doesn't oppose height "per se" in the TransBay Project as long as he gets all the "affordable" housing he wants so there is hope for the supertall, but a letter from me would not change his mind--I've written him plenty of letters on other subjects. This time I wrote the TJPA (TransBay Joint Powers Authority) and will probably write the mayor if the matter becomes an issue before him (he generally favors development though possibly not, by reputation, as much as his predecessor, Willie Brown).

Stop writing letters to Chris Daly !! (Unless you live in his tiny little Oz Like bounds of the SoMa skid rows) You know he just wipes his chubby butt with them. Use your energy to write to his opponents, the mayor, etc . that way the forces of the rest of the city will finally overpower and silence this car driving, poverty implementing, east coast transPLANT.

[BTinSF]

Originally Posted by tyler82

Stop writing letters to Chris Daly !! (Unless you live in his tiny little Oz Like bounds of the SoMa skid rows)

Tyler, his "tiny little Oz Like bounds of the SoMa skid rows", District 6, includes not only my "tiny little Oz Like" residence (I am near the western edge) but also the sites of most of the projects we talk about all the time including the TransBay, One Rincon Hill, 301 Mission, 355 Mission etc.:


http://www.sfdistricts.org/images/sfdistrictmap2.gif

[tyler82]

Originally Posted by BTinSF

Tyler, his "tiny little Oz Like bounds of the SoMa skid rows", District 6, includes not only my "tiny little Oz Like" residence (I am near the western edge) but also the sites of most of the projects we talk about all the time including the TransBay, One Rincon Hill, 301 Mission, 355 Mission etc.:


http://www.sfdistricts.org/images/sfdistrictmap2.gif

I didn't know he was your supervisor. Then keep writing letters to Chris Daly! Throw out the wicked witch of the east! When is the next election? Are supervisor elections every 4 years or 2 years? I should know this, but I've only lived in the city for 6 years. There needs to be city wide supervisor elections, these provincial neighborhood things are just so 1700s France.

[Lecom]

It would be great if the two losing teams were allowed to reuse their basic tower designs in the other, smaller towers. That way, SF gets all three of these iconic towers.

[tyler82]

Originally Posted by Lecom

It would be great if the two losing teams were allowed to reuse their basic tower designs in the other, smaller towers. That way, SF gets all three of these iconic towers.

That is a possibility, as there are a few parcels in the area where heights are being considered above 1000'.

[Stepping Razor]

Say what you will about Chris Daly (and there's plenty to say), but if the Transbay project goes through there will be no one more important than Daly in having made it happen. He's on the TJPA board and he's been a strong backer of the project.

Also, for whoever asked about how to get rid of him, he's termed out after his current term anyway, so he's on the way out no matter what.

[tyler82]

Originally Posted by Stepping Razor

Say what you will about Chris Daly (and there's plenty to say), but if the Transbay project goes through there will be no one more important than Daly in having made it happen.

Meanwhile, the rest of his district in SOMA lay in decay, and the reaches of his priorities have extended into other districts (Isn't the Mission dist. Tom Ammianno's district?) with little development one by one, as we see in parts of SOMA, Rincon Hill. Anything west of 4th street is a desolate town where, for some reason, people just won't go to because they don't like the smell of urine and being harassed at the gas stations for $. The little nightspot area on 11th near Folsom has turned into a violence free for all, with swarms of police camped out there every weekend night. You can probably find some of the largest plight in the country right there in those few blocks of his district. And he probably couldn't be prouder.

[Stepping Razor]

Originally Posted by tyler82

Meanwhile, the rest of his district in SOMA lay in decay, and the reaches of his priorities have extended into other districts (Isn't the Mission dist. Tom Ammianno's district?) with little development one by one, as we see in parts of SOMA, Rincon Hill. Anything west of 4th street is a desolate town where, for some reason, people just won't go to because they don't like the smell of urine and being harassed at the gas stations for $. The little nightspot area on 11th near Folsom has turned into a violence free for all, with swarms of police camped out there every weekend night. You can probably find some of the largest plight in the country right there in those few blocks of his district. And he probably couldn't be prouder.

Aye, when I said, "Say what you will about Chris Daly (and there's plenty to say)," this is exactly what I meant.

I just think that if there's one thing people *shouldn't* flame him for, it's the Transbay project.

[BTinSF]

Originally Posted by Stepping Razor

I just think that if there's one thing people *shouldn't* flame him for, it's the Transbay project.

It's not a matter of flaming him for it. Yes, so far he is sort of positive on it but that's in great part because until now there was no indication of exactly how much "affordable" housing he expected to get and whether any of the developers would cooperate. Now we see that Pelli/Hines wants a tower with NO housing. Fat chance and it that's what they stick with, you can be sure Daly will not be supportive.

It will be very interesting to see which design is chosen and what he had to say about the whole project then. I fully expect him to be willing to hold the whole thing up until he gets all he wants. So once we know which design and how much housing is in the initial proposal, I expect him to start the bargaining by saying something like, "Nice design but not enough affordable housing. To get my vote it needs . . . ." And then we'll see how long it takes to negotiate the thing. But if he comes out the other end of this sausage-making process still looking as much like a booster of the project, I'll be surprised.

To me this is very much like Trinity Plaza. Yes, he supported it in the end and he gets some credit--much more than he deserves--but he held the thing up for years and with a less motivated developer likely would have killed it (may still have if the recent credit market gyrations affect the ability to fund it). It's quite likely he'll also be the cause of the TransBay timetable slipping badly.

[Stepping Razor]

Originally Posted by BTinSF

It's not a matter of flaming him for it. Yes, so far he is sort of positive on it but that's in great part because until now there was no indication of exactly how much "affordable" housing he expected to get and whether any of the developers would cooperate. Now we see that Pelli/Hines wants a tower with NO housing. Fat chance and it that's what they stick with, you can be sure Daly will not be supportive.

It will be very interesting to see which design is chosen and what he had to say about the whole project then. I fully expect him to be willing to hold the whole thing up until he gets all he wants. So once we know which design and how much housing is in the initial proposal, I expect him to start the bargaining by saying something like, "Nice design but not enough affordable housing. To get my vote it needs . . . ." And then we'll see how long it takes to negotiate the thing. But if he comes out the other end of this sausage-making process still looking as much like a booster of the project, I'll be surprised.

To me this is very much like Trinity Plaza. Yes, he supported it in the end and he gets some credit--much more than he deserves--but he held the thing up for years and with a less motivated developer likely would have killed it (may still have if the recent credit market gyrations affect the ability to fund it). It's quite likely he'll also be the cause of the TransBay timetable slipping badly.

Could be. Only time will tell, I guess. I *think* Daly sees the transit terminal itself as the major "public benefit" of the Transbay project, so I suspect he may be less extortionate on other "public benefits" -- i.e., affordable housing and/or kickbacks to "community development" slush funds. (This is *not* the case with the Piano project across the street, which I suspect will face much higher hurdles from Daly.)

As for Trinity Plaza, it's hard to know who was at fault when the other "progressive" Supes went back to try to extract another pound of flesh after Daly made his deal. Did Daly not pull hard enough to keep them in line? Or did he even have the clout at that point to do so? Hard to say. I suspect that the deep-seated loathing that many people in SF have for Angelo Sangiacomo also had something to do with it.

Anyways, when all is said and done I'm glad Trinity is finally happening and I really hope that Transbay (SOM!) happens as well. And by then Daly will be gone and D6 can elect some other crazy person for us to complain about.

[briankendall]

Since we are talking about Chris Daly and the Transbay Tower and since I dislike the man deeply, I have to say I was completely appalled by his behavior at the presentations and have been wanting to say that since 8/6. Not that the man had a thing to say or had a single comment... of course not because he kept getting up - at least 20 times or more - during all the presentations and doing stupid things like turning off the lights at the wrong time, dimming the lights, walking in front of the screen with the presentations on it with hundreds of people trying to watch and worst of all he kept getting up to talk to his friends repeatedly and getting distracted. Did he even absorb any of it? It was the first time I saw him in action and I thought this man truly is an asshole. How can any progressive in SF be so stupid as to support him but of course I am not so I do not understand the love for him. God knows what he thinks of the proposals but hopefully a ray rationale will shine through and he'll vote for the SOM project.

[BigKidD]

Is there a reason we cannot tar and feather Daly? Or is that too much energy to waste on him? Also, it would certainly be a horror show if the Transbay project is held up at all like the Trinity Plaza.

[Frisco_Zig]

Hope this hasn't already been mentioned....

Daly's support seems to be waning on the BOS. He lost an important spot on a budget commission and was unable to get a second on his amendments (which I read is unusual)

Seems even other Progressives on the board are getting tired of his act though I wouldn't count him out when it comes to exacting concessions from developers.

[botoxic]

Originally Posted by briankendall

Since we are talking about Chris Daly and the Transbay Tower and since I dislike the man deeply, I have to say I was completely appalled by his behavior at the presentations and have been wanting to say that since 8/6. Not that the man said a thing to say or had a single comment... of course not because he kept getting up - at least 20 times or more - during all the presentations and doing stupid things like turning off the lights at the wrong time, dimming the lights, walking in front of the screen with the presentations on it with hundreds of people trying to watch and worst of all he kept getting up to talk to his friends repeatedly and getting distracted. Did he even absorb any of it? It was the first time I saw him in action and I thought this man truly is an asshole. How can any progressive in SF be so stupid as to support him but of course I am not so I do not understand the love for him. God knows what he thinks of the proposals but hopefully a ray rationale will shine through and he'll vote for the SOM project.

Chris Daly came off as an ignorant ass during the presentations. Was he trying to make himself seem important? Does he have ADD? He looked like a buffoon and was a complete embarrassment to me as my supervisor (yes, another District 6 dweller here). The more I watched him, the angrier I became - but at least I can say I did not vote for him.

[CUCa]

SOM now also posted their powerpoint presentation (it's super nifty).

Anyone else catch their full page add on page A3 of the Chronicle this morning? They're really going all out! (I approve).

[ozone]

Originally Posted by tyler82

Meanwhile, the rest of his district in SOMA lay in decay

IMG I wish we had some of your SOMA 'decay'.

[craeg]

Anyone else catch their full page add on page A3 of the Chronicle this morning? They're really going all out! (I approve).

No! What does it say?

[rajaxsonbayboi]

heres the link to the add

http://personalshopper.sfgate.com/RO...40452&cat=7191

[Reminiscence]

Originally Posted by rajaxsonbayboi

heres the link to the add

http://personalshopper.sfgate.com/RO...40452&cat=7191

Impressive advertisement thats sure to turn a few heads. Thanks for providing the link .

[slock]

I followed a link to the SOM website yesterday and noticed they have uploaded their entire TJPA presentation.

It takes a bit to load, but is well worth the wait. Shows the true genius of their proposal and has some stunning renders as well:

http://www.som.com/content.cfm/transbay_presentation