SAN FRANCISCO | Mission Bay

[BTinSF]

Originally Posted by WildCowboy

Nice shots, p.g.

My on-location updates will be coming to an end, as I'm moving to North Carolina in early February. I'll try to keep on top of projects virtually though!

As a Duke alum, I hope you like humidity and freezing rain. The BBQ is great and the blooming azalias pretty, though.

[peanut gallery]

That's a bummer for us. We'll miss your semi-insider updates. Hope the move works out for you though.

[WildCowboy]

Originally Posted by BTinSF

As a Duke alum, I hope you like humidity and freezing rain. The BBQ is great and the blooming azalias pretty, though.

Originally Posted by peanut gallery

That's a bummer for us. We'll miss your semi-insider updates. Hope the move works out for you though.

Thanks, guys...moving to Cary for a new job. Really looking forward to it, and we could actually afford to buy a house there!

[JAC6]

I drive by this building every day and decided to take a closer look at it this weekend.

[peanut gallery]

Great shots, Jac. I've been wanting to get some close-ups of it and just haven't had a chance. It's my favorite building south of the channel. I really love the random patterns and the color of the glass.

[fflint]

For your viewing pleasure, some crappy snapshots I took with my cameraphone on my Saturday ride through campus. On my weeknight rides, the campus is a bit livelier than what you see here.


Mission Bay skyline


The main quad and busiest ped/bike axis already provide the outline of what the campus will eventually look like






The bulk of student housing fronts Eugene Friend Way. With a Quizno's, Peasant Pies and some coffee joint beneath the dorms, I suppose this qualifies as 'mixed use' development






A portrait in new housing: One Rincon Hill, in the distance, soars high above Mission Bay's student residences




Third Street below, with the main light rail stop at Eugene Friend Way just out of sight


The corporate portion of Mission Bay lies east of the campus, across Third Street, and extends north and south out to the bayshore. The condos in the distance are being shown currently, and I've witnessed plenty of potential buyers on my daily ride-by.








The spine of Eugene Friend Way is anchored to the west by the student union tower

[BTinSF]

The Return of Seawall Lot 337
Tuesday, January 20, 2009, by Andy J. Wang
Dropped: Ferry Building developers Wilson Meany Sullivan's plans for Seawall Lot 337. With the Giants in tow. Finally. The project will build up 16 acres of housing, offices, entertainment and all that stuff over the course of 13 years. At the moment, the Port is sitting on the proposal, as their staff needs to review it first, but all will be revealed shortly. Breath: held. [City Insider]

Source: http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2009/0...ll_lot_337.php

This is rather opaquely written but I take it to mean the Giants proposal (as modified) has triumphed after all. If so, I'm happy about it and look forward to the release of more information.

For those who may have forgotten, this was their original proposal:


Source: http://sf.curbed.com/tags/sf-giants

[BTinSF]

New streetcar line could link to waterfront development
By John Upton
Examiner Staff Writer 1/20/09

SAN FRANCISCO – Under a new proposal submitted to the Port of San Francisco, a new bay-front streetcar line planned between The City’s Fisherman’s Wharf and the downtown Caltrain station would extend to go over the Fourth Street Bridge, hook left south of AT&T Park and stop at a 16-acre waterfront development.

The 10-block project to redevelop Parking Lot A, next to the ballpark, comes from a consortium of developers, financiers and the Giants, according to Port project manager Phil Williamson.

Some of the members of the four teams that originally proposed to redevelop the site have dropped out or merged, leaving a single proposal for the 10-block project, said Williams.

The latest plan, which has not been released to the public, includes 875 townhouse-style rental units; 1 million square feet of biotechnology, clean-tech and office space; 240,000 square feet of stores, restaurants and other retail; 2,650 parking spaces; and conversion of historic buildings on Pier 48 for events and exhibits, according to Williamson.

The proposal also includes more than 8 acres of public open space, including a 5-acre park that would be called Mission Rock Park and overlook McCovey Cove in China Basin, according to Williamson.

A city block-size park, Mission Rock Square, is proposed at the heart of the project, and it would be the final stopping point for Muni’s planned new E line.

Plans show the rail would be built in stages throughout the first decade of the redevelopment, according to Williamson. Construction at the site could begin by 2012, according to Wilson Meany Sullivan developer Kheay Loke.
The height of the tallest buildings has yet to be determined, according to Loke.

“Height limit is a hot topic in town and we need to work with the community,” Loke said.

An artists’ community, included in an earlier proposal, appears to have been dumped in the latest plan, according to Williamson.

Source: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/New_...velopment.html

[BTinSF]

Friday, January 23, 2009
University of California braces for impact from state budget cuts
San Francisco Business Times - by Chris Rauber

The University of California, and UCSF specifically, can expect to take a large and long-lasting hit when an emergency state budget is finalized, according to an internal UCSF report by retiring Chancellor Michael Bishop.

In that Dec. 23 report, Bishop said UC has already absorbed a $48 million cut in state funding during the current fiscal year, which began July 1, and anticipates cuts this year to total “at least $115 million.” In addition, Bishop said unfunded enrollment growth and increased fixed costs will “add another $100 million or more to the financial burden.”

“Looking further ahead, (UC) President Mark Yudof has advised that UC can anticipate cuts of as much as 10 percent in each of the three coming years, and has directed campuses to plan accordingly,” UCSF’s chancellor reported. In addition to those cuts, Ricardo Vazquez, a spokesman for the University of California’s Office of the President, noted Jan. 20 that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has requested a further $65.5 million mid-year cut to the system’s budget, which would also apply to the following fiscal year, but that isn’t official at this point. The system also plans to slash freshman enrollment next fall.

The financial pressures are heightened by UC’s need to resume making contributions to the retirement plan this year, after 18 years where investment income took care of that, and “substantial increases in health benefit costs,” which Bishop said would affect both the university and its employees.

The University of California system is based in Oakland, and it operates four major campuses in the greater Bay Area: UCSF, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis. The system headquarters employs nearly 1,900, UCSF has 21,567 employees, UC Berkeley employs 24,700, UC Santa Cruz about 7,600, and UC Davis about 18,600 full-time workers, according to various UC web sites.

Early last month, the Office of the President, the system’s headquarters, announced plans to slash $60.4 million, or 21 percent, from its 2008-2009 budget, along with 500 full-time-equivalent jobs. That’s on top of $8.7 million in cuts and 97 eliminated jobs during the first four months of the fiscal year. UCOP’s goal is to slash another 275 or more jobs and $25 million from its budget by the end of the 2009-2010 fiscal year.

UCSF impacts

At UCSF, state funding represents just 9 percent of the overall operating budget. But the state helps fund crucial areas such as maintenance and operation of facilities, utilities, and salaries for many staff and faculty, the chancellor said.

Eric Vermillion, associate vice chancellor for finance, said UCSF had been anticipating cuts in the range of 3 percent to 7 percent, and that it looks like 6 percent will be the final figure. “We need to plan comprehensively, (but) we can still do our mission (if) we plan carefully,” Vermillion said.

Although state officials said last month that more than 2,000 California public works projects were halted due to the budget crisis, two ongoing projects at UCSF are safe, at least for now: the cardiovascular research building at the Mission Bay campus and the stem cell research center at the Parnassus campus, Bishop said.

UCSF’s executive budget committee is working on a multi-year plan to cope with the crisis, which Bishop said could take three or four months to complete. “We are planning against worst-case scenarios, based on both our own assessment of the circumstances and advice from the Office of the President,” he said.

crauber@bizjournals.com / (415) 288-4946

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

[AndrewK]

Originally Posted by BTinSF

Source: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/New_...velopment.html

so what they are saying then is that the section of the T line between embarcadero and the caltrain station is going to become the lower half of this new E line (with the embarcadero portion of the F line as its upper half) once the T line switches to its new central subway route?

[peanut gallery]

Nice tour, fflint. A lot of views of the campus I never get to see.

[WildCowboy]

Originally Posted by AndrewK

so what they are saying then is that the section of the T line between embarcadero and the caltrain station is going to become the lower half of this new E line (with the embarcadero portion of the F line as its upper half) once the T line switches to its new central subway route?

I guess so, but it sounds like a downgrade. The previous plan for the E-line was to bring it all the way through Mission Bay to the loop at Third and 19th, but now it's going to terminate up by the channel in SWL337.

[Reminiscence]

I don't recall hearing about this E Line, but it sounds like a nice idea to compliment the new development.

Regarding UCSF, these budget cuts are so not good for me and my dreams of going there for graduate school

[LWR]

Nor for me... if you're already "here".

[BTinSF]

Originally Posted by Reminiscence

I don't recall hearing about this E Line, but it sounds like a nice idea to compliment the new development.

The "E-Embarcadero" line using historic streetcars (as on the F-Market line) has been planned since the Embarcadero itself was rebuilt after the elevated freeway was demolished. That's why tracks connecting the southern segment used by the N and T lines and the northern segment used by the F line were installed at that time. But since then Muni has said it lacked personnel and/or cars to begin the service. Now, however, the TEP (Transit Effectiveness Project) has approved it and it's possible service could begin sometime in 2010. It's shown here in the TEP recommendation: http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mtep/docume...nges_10_08.pdf (Note that N, T and E are all shown running on the Embarcadero south of Folsom)

[BTinSF]

Originally Posted by AndrewK

so what they are saying then is that the section of the T line between embarcadero and the caltrain station is going to become the lower half of this new E line (with the embarcadero portion of the F line as its upper half) once the T line switches to its new central subway route?

No.

The E-Embarcadero is a new service going the length of the Embarcadero (Fishermens' Wharf to the CalTrain Terminal--at least) and using historic trolleys like those on the F-Market line. It will complement the N, T and F lines, not change them. If/when the Central Subway is built, the T will run that route but the N will still run along the southern Embarcadero and the F along the northern Embarcadero with the E running the length of the Embarcadero, supplementing both.

If you've taken the F, especially along the Embarcadero, in the summer, you know the cars are horribly crowded. It's believed this will reduce that crowding a lot since many people just take the F from the Ferry Building to the Wharf.

[peanut gallery]

Originally Posted by BTinSF

The "E-Embarcadero" line using historic streetcars (as on the F-Market line) has been planned since the Embarcadero itself was rebuilt after the elevated freeway was demolished. That's why tracks connecting the southern segment used by the N and T lines and the northern segment used by the F line were installed at that time. But since then Muni has said it lacked personnel and/or cars to begin the service. Now, however, the TEP (Transit Effectiveness Project) has approved it and it's possible service could begin sometime in 2010. It's shown here in the TEP recommendation: http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mtep/docume...nges_10_08.pdf (Note that N, T and E are all shown running on the Embarcadero south of Folsom)

Just to add a small note, they ran streetcars on the existing part of what will be the E line a couple of months ago on one of those Sunday Streets events. It will be nice to tie it into the Seawall development.

[viewguysf]

Originally Posted by LWR

Nor for me... if you're already "here".

I'm so looking forward to having some uplifting news from at least one sector of the economy versus the constant stream of bad news affecting seemingly everything. Just think of what we have seen across the Forum in the last year and a half--a downward trend has been turning into a virtual free fall off of a cliff for our favorite projects, developments and places.

One of the worst things for me is what has been happening to higher education in California. In addition to the UC system, the CSU is once again being devastated and the CCC is as well. The library construction and renovation project at SF State has been halted which will add millions of dollars to the cost of eventual completion. Hundreds of other projects across the system and state have also been halted. The CSU is turning away 10,000 eligible applicants next year; the CCC will also limit enrollment along with UC, meaning that many qualified students will be denied the opportunity for post high school education. The poor and middle class will, of course, be adversely affected.

We need to get with it, first and foremost by eliminating the requirement of a two-thirds majority to pass a budget in each chamber of our legislature. We are one of the only states that requires this and the entire process is being held hostage as a result.

[peanut gallery]

Originally Posted by viewguysf

We need to get with it, first and foremost by eliminating the requirement of a two-thirds majority to pass a budget in each chamber of our legislature. We are one of the only states that requires this and the entire process is being held hostage as a result.

Amen to that.

Maybe this will brighten everyone's spirits, if even a little bit. New renderings of the Mission Rock proposal, from SocketSite:

[viewguysf]

Originally Posted by peanut gallery

Amen to that.

Maybe this will brighten everyone's spirits, if even a little bit. New renderings of the Mission Rock proposal, from SocketSite.

Let it be PG--bring it on!!