Arent Fox Bay Area Land News - March 15, 2016
Please note: We have an upcoming event on Tuesday, March 22: Elephant in the Room Luncheon - Is the Bay Area Ready for a Regional Planning Agency with Teeth? If you would like to join, details are available here.
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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
Kill high-speed rail and spend the money on reservoirs? Proposed California ballot measure
Supporters of a proposed ballot initiative to kill California's high-speed rail project and use the money to build new reservoirs are racing to gather enough signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot. But the campaign, which is being bankrolled by San Joaquin Valley farmers, is already drawing fire from fellow farmers and environmentalists, who call it a "Trojan horse."
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Chronicle
Bay Area housing crisis fueled by greed, study finds sparks debate
There are numerous reasons why the Bay Area has a housing crisis. The reason we most often hear about is the influx of new residents to the area. The one we hardly think about, however, can be found in our own collective backyards.
To read the full article, click here.
SF Gate
Chinese developers muscling in to Bay Area housing market
The flood of Chinese money into Bay Area housing is coming not just from home buyers. Developers and investors are also building and backing large residential projects here. They mainly want to diversify away from China’s overbuilt market but also serve Chinese buyers wanting a home in the Bay Area.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco News
San Francisco Examiner
Five vying to represent a Mission ‘in crisis’ on Board of Supervisors
The Mission district is widely considered ground zero for the forces of change with which San Francisco has notoriously struggled in recent years: soaring housing costs, evictions, the influx of technology workers, the infamous “Google buses” and the displacement of long-standing residents, many of whom are Latino.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Examiner
SFMTA to study Central Subway extension to Fisherman’s Wharf
San Francisco’s newest — and still under construction — subway may soon see an extension from Chinatown to Fisherman’s Wharf. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency recently allocated $1.2 million in its budget to study extending the T-Third Central Subway from its terminus in North Beach all the way to Fisherman’s Wharf.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Examiner
SF in running for $50M grant to technologically improve transportation network
San Francisco is among seven cities in the U.S. that could receive a federal grant to become the nation’s first to incorporate self-driving cars and other technological efforts into its transportation network.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Chronicle
SF Flower Mart’s redevelopment plans expand
The proposed redevelopment of the historic San Francisco Flower Mart property South of Market is set to go in a new direction after the project developer acquired an adjoining property at Fifth and Brannan streets.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Chronicle
Transbay panel has deal for land key to financing transit center
The board of the cash-strapped Transbay Joint Powers Authority struck a deal Thursday with a developer willing to pay $160 million for a key parcel of land near the transit center, money that is badly needed to finance the first phase of the $2.1 billion facility at First and Mission streets.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Chronicle
SF Planning Department gets ready to get ready for sea-level rise
The long-term threat of a rising bay has prodded nearly a dozen city agencies to come together and respond with an action plan — “action” being a relative term. “We’re getting prepared to act more deliberately and smarter in the future,” said Gil Kelley, the Planning Department’s director of citywide planning. “The plan doesn’t propose specific programs and solutions. It’s a call to get those programs in place.”
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Chronicle
3 new SoMa buildings fit comfortably into their surroundings
Brannan Street has long been one of those thoroughfares you cross while heading somewhere else, with long blocks of stocky blue-collar buildings pockmarked by parking lots. Now, though, it’s home to a mini construction boom, with three large commercial structures being completed in a two-block stretch near South Park.
To read the full article, click here.
Hoodline
San Francisco's First Shipping Container Offices Sprout Up In SoMa
The former parking lot at 9 Freelon, just off Fourth Street, is starting to look a bit more hospitable—thanks to a shipping container that'll soon multiply and become home to a handful of creatives and retailers.
To read the full article, click here.
SocketSite
Development to Replace Rincon Hill Gas Station Closer to Reality
With the public hearing for the proposed 14-story development to rise on the northwest corner of First and Harrison, a prominent Rincon Hill parcel currently occupied by a Union 76 gas station, scheduled for March 24, a plugged-in source delivers the latest renderings for the building.
To read the full article, click here.
South Bay News
San Jose Mercury News
San Jose third costliest North American housing market -- if you believe the rankings
Here they come down the final stretch, folks! It's San Francisco in first, followed by Manhattan -- yes, Donald Trump's Manhattan -- close behind in the second spot! And -- look out -- that's San Jose in third place!
To read the full article, click here.
San Jose Mercury News
Sunnyvale: Plot of land sells for $186 million, 450 townhomes could come to site
Developers have purchased a large tract of land in Sunnyvale for $186 million with plans to build 450 townhomes on the site. The 24.5-acre former industrial campus was sold Feb. 26 by Watt Companies to Landsea Holdings Corporation.
To read the full article, click here.
Silicon Valley Business Journal
Former Cisco site in Coyote Valley finally sells, as south San Jose action ramps up
The deal represents the most significant land transaction in south San Jose in years and sets up intriguing possibilities for the future of the area.
To read the full article, click here.
Silicon Valley Business Journal
Why these retailers flocked to new north San Jose shopping center
We all know the storyline about retail right now: When it comes to tenants, it's all about food, food and more food, with non-food tenants becoming as rare as hen's teeth.
To read the full article, click here.
Silicon Valley Business Journal
Updated: LAFCO says no to Morgan Hill's annexation request
By the time Morgan Hill officials walked into a Santa Clara County boardroom on Friday, their plans to annex 229 acres of largely rural county land had already run into a buzzsaw of opposition from environmental groups and growth watchdogs.
To read the full article, click here.
Peninsula News
San Jose Mercury News
Ignatius Ding and Joan Lawler Chin: Driven to tears? Cupertino residents are feeling run over
"Driven to tears" was the startling headline of a recent Mr. Roadshow column by Gary Richards featuring exchanges with readers frustrated by the Bay Area's ever-worsening traffic problems. However, the subject is anything but funny. For Bay Area residents, there seem to be two things more certain than death and taxes. They are traffic and mega developments.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Business Times
Prolific Peninsula hotel developer pays city $4 million for San Bruno Marriott site
Prolific Peninsula hotel developer OTO Development is paying the city of San Bruno $4 million for a site where it plans to build a 152-room, upscale Marriott hotel.
To read the full article, click here.
Palo Alto Online
Editorial: Getting out of cars
Ask any employer in Palo Alto, large or small, tech or restaurant, what its biggest business challenge is and you'll get the same two answers: the lack of local housing options affordable to its employees and the hellish commute experiences that result. Both lead to upward pressures on rent and compensation, the two largest cost centers for most businesses.
To read the full article, click here.
Palo Alto Online
Study makes economic case for growth in Palo Alto
New developments inevitably breed frustrations in Palo Alto, where city leaders have spent much of the past year exploring new ways to limit the growth of office space and curtail its most visible side-effects: traffic congestion and a parking shortage.
To read the full article, click here.
Palo Alto Online
Resident group petitions city for housing reform
A coalition of Palo Alto residents, including eight former mayors, is petitioning the City Council to fix the city's affordable-housing crisis now.
To read the full article, click here.
Palo Alto Online
In fight against traffic, Palo Alto finds business allies
From Caltrain passes for daily commuters to nimble shuttles for local residents, city leaders in Palo Alto have no shortage of ideas for moving people out of cars and into other modes of transportation.
To read the full article, click here.
Mountain View Voice
Tuesday: Council to discuss renter mediation program
After more than six months of preparation, the Mountain View City Council on Tuesday could take action on skyrocketing rents
To read the full article, click here.
East Bay News
San Jose Mercury News
Drummond: Oakland housing crunch seizes center stage
A friend is relocating to the Bay Area to work for a nonprofit. She asked me to be on the lookout for a two-bedroom rental in Oakland near the Emeryville border for $2,500 or less. I hated to burst her bubble by telling her that she could probably get a one-bedroom at that price.
To read the full article, click here.
San Jose Mercury News
Jack London Square in downtown Oakland is sold
Jack London Square, an icon of downtown Oakland's waterfront, has been bought by CIM Group, executives said Friday, in a deal that transfers ownership at a time when the landmark restaurant, retail and office complex has captured a bounty of new tenants.
To read the full article, click here.
San Jose Mercury News
Newark OKs 589 homes on city's western edge
The City Council gave the green light for almost 600 homes to be built on the western edge of the city. The Council on Thursday unanimously approved the Gateway Station West along Willow Street on a former industrial site. The 589 homes on 41 acres will include 321 detached houses, with the rest being townhouses.
To read the full article, click here.
San Francisco Chronicle
Developer to pay $1 million for damaging salamander habitat
An East Bay development company and its president, who admitted polluting a pond that supported the threatened California tiger salamander and forging documents to hide their actions, has been ordered to pay $1 million to conservation funds and preserve 107 acres of land as habitat for endangered species.
To read the full article, click here.