Arent Fox Bay Area Land News - August 23, 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
Bay Area housing costs prompt high school students into 70-mile commutes
The district has been granting more transfers to kids like Mya whose families move away. "Everything they have is here, but they can't afford to live here."
To read the full article, click here.
Urban Displacement Blog
How’d they do it? A look at three places that avoided gentrification
We took a closer look at three of these places: San Francisco’s Chinatown, San Jose’s Diridon Station, and East Palo Alto. Here's some of what we found.
To read the full article, click here.
Brookings Report
The long-term impact of the Head Start program
A growing body of rigorous evidence suggests that policy interventions aimed at early childhood bear fruit for decades. For example, reductions in air pollution in the first year of life and more experienced kindergarten teachers are associated with increases in later earnings, while childhood access to food stamps and Medicaid causes better health in adulthood.
To read the full article, click here.
New York Times
Affluent and black, and still trapped by segregation
It is a national phenomenon challenging the popular assumption that segregation is more about class than about race, that when black families earn more money, some ideal of post-racial integration will inevitably be reached.
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Silicon Valley Business Journal
From lagoon to spoon: Aquaculture gets a boost
A marine lab near Monterey that serves SJSU and other California State Universities aims to make the U.S. a global force in aquaculture.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco News
San Francisco Business Times
Price slashing begins at Millennium Tower for city's most expensive condo
So far, “the building has continued to settle vertically, now 16 inches,” the Transbay Joint Powers Authority told the San Francisco Chronicle — a drop greatly exceeding the 12 inches its builders had predicted it would sink over the course of its lifetime.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Business Times
Chinese developer pays $171 million for 42-acre biotech site in South San Francisco
The firm, a state-owned Chinese developer, bought the 42-acre site from a partnership between Shorenstein Properties and SKS Partners, which paid $84 million for the land in 2008 and entitled the development plan.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Business Times
Google will open a startup space for developers in San Francisco
The new site at 301 Howard Street is only a couple blocks from Google's main San Francisco office at the Hills Plaza complex, the former home of Hills Bros. Coffee, and adds to a suite of other accelerators setting up shop in the area.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Business Times
Chinese investor snaps up San Francisco office tower for $255 million
A division of HNA Group, a major Chinese investor ranked in the Fortune 500, bought its first West Coast office property in San Francisco's SoMa neighborhood.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Chronicle
Affordable-rent demand could slow construction in SF, report says
The controller’s office will release its final report in September. The political debate will then begin as the supervisors decide whether to accept the recommendations.
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San Francisco Chronicle
Just before the world rushed in: SF’s small-town early days
San Francisco was centered on the northern part of curving, mile-long Yerba Buena Cove, whose waters extended from Clark’s Point, at what is now Bush and Battery streets, down to Rincon Point, near present-day First and Harrison streets. The town occupied what is now the Financial District, Chinatown and Jackson Square, bounded roughly by Bush, Broadway, Montgomery and Stockton.
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San Francisco Examiner
Opinion: Eisenhower’s parking policies no longer work for San Francisco
The last time San Francisco looked comprehensively at how it plans for parking, Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, gas was 25 cents a gallon and we hadn’t even started building BART.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Business Times
Central SoMa condo site makes switch to hotel
Previously, the site was slated to become a nine-story condo building with 89 units. The switch to hospitality at the site is indicative of a larger residential development trend in the city.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Business Times
Citing Uber's 'unsavory tactics,' Lyft denies that it's for sale
“The Bloomberg report is a classic example of Uber using unsavory tactics in an attempt to impact our business," said a Lyft spokesperson. "Lyft is not for sale. We are on a fully funded path to profitability."
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New York Times
Lyft is said to seek a buyer, without success
Tensions have escalated in the industry in recent months as some ride-hailing companies have worked to figure out what to do with their most expensive operations. This month, Uber, which has raised far more money than Lyft, agreed to sell its Chinese subsidiary to Didi, the biggest ride-hailing company in China. The deal freed Uber from a cash-draining battle for dominance in the Chinese market.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Business Times
35-story hotel and residential tower proposed atop historic S.F. corner
If approved, the One Montgomery St. project would be only the second new highrise built in the area in over a decade, after an office tower under construction at 350 Bush St., which preserved the historic facade of the previous building on the site.
To read the full article, click here.
SF Gate
How has the Millennium Tower in S.F. affected nearby real estate?
Most San Franciscans know that much of downtown and South of Market were once part of the bay. But the fact that one of the city’s tallest buildings has apparently begun to sink is both a wake-up call and a hard dose of reality. This is a good thing.
To read the full article, click here.
SF Gate
Rent increases slow dramatically as increased construction catches up with demand
After years of slow apartment development, San Francisco is actually expecting to see over 9,000 new units come to market in 2016, according to research from RentCafe. That boosts rental inventory by 126 percent over 2015’s numbers, according to the rental site.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Business Times
Will HUD decision put the brakes on leasing at S.F. affordable senior housing complex?
A letter from HUD to the head of the city’s Office of Housing and Community Development stated that the ordinance could “limit equal access to housing and perpetuate segregation.”
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Business Times
Proposal for Palace of Fine Arts site still has a long way to go, city says
"The site doesn’t include the famous rotunda designed by Bernard Maybeck for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Expo," the paper reports. "The department is looking for an occupant to fill the building behind it, which was previously home to the Exploratorium science museum. The space needs about $20 million of seismic and preservation upgrades."
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SF Gate
Opinion: Eminent domain means your home can be their castle
In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that “economic development” constituted “public use” in its infamous Kelo decision, which allowed governments to seize private property for private development. (The state or local government derives its power to take private property for public use in return for just compensation from the right of eminent domain.)
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Examiner
Sides drawn in lawsuit filed by SF against Academy of Art
The academy is hoping to qualify for a grandfathering clause that allows nonprofit schools to convert low-income housing into student housing. Planners have recommended the clause apply to some of the academy’s seven buildings that are partially used for student housing, said Jim Brosnahan, an attorney representing the academy.
To read the full article, click here.
Biospace
Google's Verily HQ in the Peninsula Needs More Time, Company Seeks Timeline Extension
“We need to extend the development agreement in order to allow enough time for them to settle into their new facilities and make plans for their next phase of growth which will require construction of the final planned commercial building on site,” the real estate developers said in the letter.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Examiner
Planning Commission power vacuum may endanger housing projects
Housing proposals seeking approval in The City may see a challenging September, as will advocates seeking vital concessions from the deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars impacting the lives of thousands of San Franciscans.
To read the full article, click here.
South Bay News
San Jose Mercury News
Santa Clara County: Housing bond would have 'groundbreaking' oversight
As county officials seek voter approval in November for $950 million in bonds for affordable housing, they now are assuring voters that its oversight committee watchdog will have sharp eyes and teeth.
To read the full article, click here.
Peninsula News
Fast Co.Exist
How Mark Zuckerberg might attack the affordable housing crisis
The Facebook billionaire is rumored to be looking at housing as an issue to address with his new charitable organization. What could he be thinking?
To read the full article, click here.
The Atlantic
A former Palo Alto city planner on Silicon Valley’s housing mess
”People look around and think, ‘Boy, things are expensive.’ They don’t realize that they’re expensive because of decisions that the local government makes.”
To read the full article, click here.
Mountain View Voice
School board member to run for council seat
Coladonato says he is shocked that tenants have experienced rent increases of 50 percent or more in recent years. Something needs to be done to help Mountain View's large renter population, he said.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Business Times
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative ramps up philanthropy effort with big stock sale
The group sold 767,905 shares on Wednesday and Thursday, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Facebook stock was trading at $123 at the time.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Business Times
Developer of massive Millbrae BART transit village signs on hotel operator
A national operator signed on to operate a hotel that is part of a huge, proposed transit village on 9 acres of BART-owned land in Millbrae.
To read the full article, click here.
Palo Alto Online
Eleven candidates to square off in Palo Alto council race
Unlike the 2014 race, which included a slate of residentialist candidates who were endorsed by the citizens group Palo Altans for Sensible Zoning, the current group appears to be less divided by ideology.
To read the full article, click here.
The Almanac
Menlo Park: City receives plans for 16-bed boarding house
The project was modified in response to criticisms commissioners raised then. Now, plans appear to be more clear about the owner's intent to rent the rooms for single-room occupancy.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Business Times
How the small landscape firm of CMG Landscape Architecture landed the Facebook campus
CMG reeled in a big fish early on: it was tapped to help with the redevelopment of Treasure Island, a giant redevelopment now in its first phase of construction, with another 14 years until completion.
To read the full article, click here.
The Almanac
Menlo Park: Office-housing project approved
Developer Daniel Minkoff of the Minkoff Group, who has a 90-year lease on the property, plans to demolish an existing office building (formerly occupied by Spangler Mortuary) and two adjacent residences, and build two three-story buildings and two two-story residences.
To read the full article, click here.
Palo Alto Online
Plan for megahome raises Palo Alto neighbors' concerns
Neighbors in Palo Alto's Embarcadero Oaks are protesting a proposal to build an 11-bedroom, 14-bath residence with a one-car garage, which they fear could be used as an Airbnb rental or for another commercial enterprise.
To read the full article, click here.
Palo Alto Online
Palo Alto struggles to provide housing that's affordable
Teachers, techies, corporate attorneys and advocates for seniors don't always speak with the same voice, but when Palo Alto officials convened in May for their latest discussion of the state of the city's housing, the public's message was clear: We're in trouble and we need help.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Business Times
One of largest homebuilders in the U.S. to take on 109-unit condo development in San Carlos
KB Home is taking on development of Wheeler Plaza, a 109-unit condo and retail project planned in the heart of downtown San Carlos, two blocks from the Caltrain station.
To read the full article, click here.
East Bay News
San Francisco Business Times
Oakland named second most unfriendly city in the nation
Oakland officials quickly to exception to the finding, telling the Business Times on Thursday that the city remains a tourism hotspot with a gracious attitude towards guests and visitors.
To read the full article, click here.