“Backers of the proposed high-end condos at 8 Washington St. plan to start collecting signatures Monday for a November ballot measure in an attempt to win public backing for the San Francisco waterfront project, countering a rival measure seeking to repeal the city-approved deal.” (last item) [Chron]
“Yes, there’s a smart urbanity to the spaces and structures being crafted by Snøhetta and the other design firms on the project, AECOM and BAR. A lively hub between the Ferry Building and the Giants’ ballpark makes more sense than a flat open rectangle in the Bay, the Marina Green-like notion that some arena critics have pushed.”
Warriors arena key to waterfront future [Chron]
“A dynamic, politically connected planner named Justin Herman took charge. Under his forceful leadership, the bulldozers began to roll. In 1960 Geary Boulevard was torn out and replaced with a multilane expressway that was partly below grade. Soon, much of Japantown was demolished as well. In 1963, Herman announced plans to raze most of the rest of the Western Addition.”
S.F. building escaped rampant demolition [Chron]
“Bay View Park didn’t last long – the hotel burned down by the early 1880s and the race track was abandoned as the tides tended to overtake it. “
Hidden Histories: Hidden in the Bayview Was the Bay View Race Track and Park [Curbed]
“The plan calls for a 13-story building at the intersection of Polk and Hayes streets that will include a mix of studios and one- and two-bedroom units, according to planning documents.”
New apartment tower would add to residential boom in S.F.’s Civic Center area [Ex]
“The building, just up from the corner of 18th and Connecticut streets, has been a nickelodeon, a third-run neighborhood movie theater, a storefront church, a rehearsal hall for the Grateful Dead and finally a meeting place for the San Francisco Gurdjieff Society, which studies philosophy and the meaning of life.”
Potrero Hill brick hall seeks rescuer [Chron]
“Right now, the Hampton Inn is just a hole in the ground, sandwiched between two downscale hotels. A white plywood fence, marked by scrawled graffiti, covers the Mission Street side of the empty lot. It is possible to peek into the construction site through holes cut in the fence. The soil under the city here is a surprise: It’s sand, like the beach. On either side are brick walls of the two neighboring hotels. One of them has a painted sign advertising the long-vanished Richardson Bros. Safe Co. The letters are faded. It must be 100 years old.”
Window on the world – watch it change [Chron]
“The Agredanos are a prime example of how difficult it is for large, low-income families to stay in a city with few apartment vacancies and skyrocketing rents after their homes are damaged by fire. Having paid only $614 a month for their rent-controlled unit before the fire, the Agredanos would have been forced to leave San Francisco if not for a new but potentially underused program that allows landlords to offer temporary housing for displaced families at reduced rates.”
Few landlords in program for displaced [Chron]
“In San Francisco, unless you’re a complete moron, you buy rental property knowing, as the banker does, exactly what the current tenants are paying, and understanding, as the banker does, that the law won’t let me raise those rents by more than a modest amount each year. You’re making a profit at those rent levels; if not, you shouldn’t buy the place.”
Why rent control works [SFBG]
“Prior to the introduction of fractional TIC loans, borrowers’ only option for financing a TIC property was to obtain a group loan on which everyone was fully responsible for repayment. “
Bank of Marin returns to San Francisco’s fractional tenants-in-common lending [Biz Times]
