Arent Fox Bay Area Land News - August 18, 2016
News you can 'dig' covering national, California, Bay Area, San Francisco, South Bay, Peninsula, and East Bay headlines.
US/California/Bay Area News
San Jose Mercury News
Tech boom reaches record heights in the Bay Area
The Bay Area now has nearly three-quarters of a million tech jobs, 746,100. That number tops the prior record for tech employment, set during the dot-com era, by 21,000 jobs, according to this newspaper's analysis of official statistics from the state Employment Development Department released in June.
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San Francisco Business Times
State's water supplies pass 'stress test,' as districts take stock of drought possibility
The board said that 83 percent of the state’s 411 urban districts said they could withstand three more years of drought, and the ones that did not pass their stress test have now voluntarily put in place mandatory restrictions to keep their water supplies healthy.
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San Francisco Business Times
BART, Caltrain win cap-and-trade grants to make your commute easier
The grants came from the state’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program — one of four programs including high-speed rail, low-carbon transit and affordable housing that receive continuing appropriations of cap-and-trade revenues.
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San Francisco Business Times
Developer CityView, with 2,000 Bay Area units, raises more money to build West Coast apartments
The firm, which has $1.2 billion worth of assets in its portfolio, has 14 active developments on the West Coast.
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San Francisco Chronicle
Long-lost study looks at creativity of architects
The unearthed data is catnip to anyone intrigued by midcentury buildings — or for that matter, by an unfiltered glimpse of professional America at the dawn of “Mad Men.”
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San Francisco News
San Francisco Business Times
After initial defeat, Warriors’ arena foes now lining up to take new shots
Despite more than a year of defeats at every level, the Mission Bay Alliance is undaunted, and its strategy now is to tie up the team’s $1 billion arena plan in court.
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San Francisco Chronicle
SF public invited to help shape future of city subways
A San Francisco effort to change the way the city plans for transportation, dubbed Connect SF, rolls to a start with an invitation to the public to go to a website and draw on a map where future subway lines and stations should be situated.
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San Francisco Examiner
SF BART board candidate drops out, two applicants remain in race
With Feldstein out, former San Francisco supervisor and homeless czar Bevan Dufty is the only candidate left in the race with major political fundraising experience. He raised more than $40,000 in monetary and other contributions in his recent Democratic County Central Committee race, which he won by a wide margin in June.
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San Francisco Examiner
Opinion: Can San Francisco afford Gov. Brown’s ‘by right’ housing bill?
Gov. Jerry Brown says yes. To alleviate the state’s housing crisis, his controversial “by right” housing bill would allow developers to build homes in San Francisco without worrying about environmental review, local approval and NIMBYs.
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San Francisco Chronicle
Development with 25 percent affordable housing raises bar in SF
For the first time, a new housing development in San Francisco is set to rent 25 percent of its units at below-market prices without receiving a city subsidy or being allowed to bypass zoning restrictions in exchange, signaling a new era in the fight over how much affordable housing developers must provide.
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San Francisco Examiner
City planning for flood of development along SF’s southern waterfront
People are coming, but the question remains: How will they get around? That’s why San Francisco earlier this year introduced the Southern Bayfront Strategy, which includes convincing developers to contribute to neighborhood infrastructure like transportation to accommodate new residents and employees.
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San Francisco Examiner
Opinion: Proposed ballot measure on homelessness will exacerbate crisis
We cannot address homelessness through enforcement; only housing solves the problem of a lack of a home.
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South Bay News
The Registry
San José Planning Commission Welcomes New Chair Ed Abelite, Vice Chair Nick Pham, and New Members Peter Allen and Namrata Vora
Commission members serve a key role in the community’s land development as they oversee the San José General Plan Envision 2040, the blueprint for how the city will grow and develop over the coming decades.
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San Jose Mercury News
San Jose council approves temporary homes plan for Evans Lane site
Following a heated debate that stretched into the early morning hours, San Jose leaders Tuesday approved a controversial project to house 102 homeless individuals in temporary "manufactured" homes in Willow Glen as early as next summer -- against objections from the councilman representing the district.
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Silicon Valley Business Journal
Historic downtown San Jose portfolio sells to institutional investor
The deal, valued in total at about $33.5 million, is certainly not the largest sale in recent years in the compact business district. But it is notable because it signals the arrival of a new investor downtown and raises intriguing possibilities about future plans.
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San Jose Mercury News
Campbell: Annexed part of city working on own neighborhood plan
The completed plan will be a document between the city and the neighborhood association and will function as a mini-general plan that describes the characteristics of the neighborhood and guides future growth for home and business owners.
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Peninsula News
San Jose Mercury News
Palo Alto advisory board says University project still too big
Board members said the Wongs have not done enough to address the City Council's concerns of the downtown project's scale, especially in context with one-story structures on intersecting Kipling Street.
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Silicon Valley Business Journal
San Mateo approves new fees for commercial projects
On Monday, the City Council unanimously adopted commercial linkage fees for new office, retail and hotel space.
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The Almanac
How new regional agency could help Ravenswood schools
Menlo Park could impose impact fees on new development or use public benefits negotiations with developers, especially those in the city's M-2 zone, most of which is in the Ravenswood district, as a way to raise funds for the school district.
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San Jose Mercury News
Menlo Park: Downtown development OK'd with 2 affordable housing units
While it's not much of a dent in the affordability gap -- two below-market units out of 17 total planned residences -- the agreement between the developer and the city doubles the recommendation of one unit from the Housing Commission. There are currently two residences at the site.
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East Bay News
San Francisco Business Times
As development comes to Oakland's Chinatown, community groups demand more money
They want projects in the area to give more money for affordable housing, neighborhood retail and parks. Or they want nothing built at all.
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