Bay Area Land News - February 26, 2019
US / California / Bay Area News
Opinion: How the county is closing the jobs/housing gap
The Daily Journal
Last month the Metropolitan Transit Commission and the Association of Bay Area Governments presented the CASA Compact, a 15-year policy package to confront the Bay Area housing shortage. The compact presents a 10-point plan for housing production, preservation and renters’ protections that was developed by a group of mainly non-elected, self-interested housing industry and policy advocates.
Sponsored: Optimistic outlook for Bay Area real estate in 2019
East Bay Times
It’s true, 2019 may finally be the year for balance in the Bay Area real estate market. Buyers and sellers are heeding the sage advice of South Bay Realtor Rebecca Jepsen. “If you’re thinking about buying — don’t wait!” And “If you’re thinking about selling — now’s the time.”
California senator seeks to rein in local restrictions on development
The Real Deal
A Bay Area senator has introduced a bill that could impose new limits on what local governments in California can do to restrain development in their jurisdictions, the latest law meant to ease the state’s housing crisis.
Progressives Risk Killing More Than the Amazon Deal
The Atlantic
The failed attempt to bring Amazon’s second headquarters to New York was a debacle, exposing a rift among progressives so large that it occupied half of last Sunday’s Meet the Press broadcast.
As Bay Area residents struggle with housing, so do the people who help them
The Mercury News
When the struggle to make ends meet becomes too much, Bay Area families often turn to local nonprofits for help. But these days, those same pressures — high rents, soaring property values and an exorbitant cost of living — are threatening the very organizations set up to help the region’s most at-risk residents.
In some Bay Area cities, making $200,000 a year means you’re middle class
The Mercury News
Middle class incomes in some Bay Area cities are among the fastest growing in the country, but the definition of middle class in the region is reaching staggering levels.
Bay Area leaders hold out hope for 'Valley to Valley' high-speed rail connection
Silicon Valley Business Journal
Some local leaders remain optimistic. “High-speed rail is going to happen, and it’s going to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco. “Nothing the governor said today is going to change that.”
Bay Area high-earners choice made for them — rent, not own
The Mercury News
Making a good salary in the Bay Area used to mean buying a home. But over the last decade, high-income Bay Area residents have become far more likely to rent an apartment, condo or single-family home.
Rebroadcast: Future of Cities in a Changing Climate
KQED
With climate change comes rising seas, flooding and increased natural disasters. And those effects may be felt most acutely in cities. In this hour, broadcast live from the Night of Ideas festival at San Francisco's Main Library, we’ll be joined by a futurist, an architect/designer, a science fiction writer, and a landscape architect.
Here’s how presidential candidates want to help solve the housing crisis
The Mercury News
In the race for the White House, housing seldom gets much attention — but that could be about to change.
It’s Possible to Develop New Housing Without Displacing Tons of Renters. Why Don’t We?
The Tyee
Metro Vancouver is mostly built out, and there are policies in place to protect important agricultural, industrial and natural land from being turned into residential. So if developers want to build new homes, they’ll likely have to destroy old ones.
Editorial: Fighting a phony emergency, California should recognize a real one
San Francisco Chronicle
Proudly engaged in a legal battle with the Trump administration over its phony border emergency, California has a real crisis that it has rarely treated as such. It’s the housing shortage, which has given the state the nation’s highest poverty rate and nearly a quarter of its homeless population.
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Guest Opinion: Dear Gov. Newsom: Please keep your train promise
Silicon Valley Business Journal
Rod Diridon Sr. — the namesake of San Jose's train station — offers his take on Gov. Gavin Newsom's plan to delay high-speed rail's path to Silicon Valley.
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Letter to the editor: A deep Bay Area recession is not looming
San Francisco Business Times
Though his general points are accurate on the surface, the data he draws from doesn’t reflect the full story of tech in the Bay Area.
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Can America still build big? A California rail project raises doubts
San Francisco Business Times
The state’s governor has sent an expensive high-speed rail project into disarray. If California can’t build it, who can?
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San Francisco News
Transbay Transit Center’s underground train station may not be big enough for Caltrain
San Francisco Business Times
Over the next two decades, Caltrain ridership is expected to more than quadruple, following its switch to electric trains. Yet the massive underground “box” that spans three blocks beneath the transit center may not be able to accommodate enough trains to serve all those riders.
This app lets you rent rooms in San Francisco homes by the minute
San Francisco Business Times
"What we do is we allow people to access the same privacy you get in your home to make a call, take a shower, change a diaper, pray, meditate," said Recharge CEO Manny Bamfo. “Just a junction stop for your next engagement.”
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OPEN FORUM: San Francisco must address cause of health disparities — a history of housing discrimination
San Francisco Chronicle
We call on San Francisco politicians to address racial discrimination in housing legislation as a root cause of the health disparities we see in clinics and hospitals.
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What’s in the works for SF’s Civic Center
San Francisco Chronicle
While San Francisco planners dream of redesigned plazas, the city has other Civic Center projects under way.
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In SF’s Civic Center, hope for renewal as proposals to revive troubled plazas arrive this week
San Francisco Chronicle
Two years after planners began exploring how new designs could help revive and enliven the Civic Center area’s vast plazas, a conceptual plan to do exactly that will be unveiled at City Hall.
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Revitalizing SF’s historic piers: Next step could start a fight
San Francisco Chronicle
The Port of San Francisco is planning to seek a developer to revitalize up to four historic piers and two other structures on the city’s northeast Embarcadero — but a longtime local activist is calling for a pause.
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Limited scope of testing at SF shipyard housing area leaves site’s safety in doubt
San Francisco Chronicle
The state health department has finished crawling through a San Francisco housing development with radiation scanners and says it found no hazards. But a review of the state’s final report on that effort, released this month, shows that its testing was superficial and did not address key questions about health and safety, prompting some experts to call the whole effort misleading.
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Interest in retail leasing plummets at troubled Salesforce Transit Center
San Francisco Examiner
Salesforce Transit Center’s cracked steel beams aren’t just affecting the commutes of thousands of Bay Area residents. It also seems to have thrown retailer’s plans for a loop, too.
SF Mayor London Breed forms group to keep Warriors’ Chase Center opening on track
San Francisco Chronicle
While Golden State Warriors fans fixate on this year’s playoff run, San Francisco Mayor London Breed is looking ahead to next season — the first the NBA team will play in the brand-new Chase Center arena in Mission Bay.
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South Bay News
Downtown San Jose hotel tower proposal gets dozens more rooms
East Bay Times
A downtown San Jose hotel tower would have many more rooms than first proposed, according to new plans being offered by the project’s developer.
Housing may sprout near San Jose’s downtown convention center
East Bay Times
A new housing development could sprout in an up-and-coming arts and entertainment district in the southern section of downtown San Jose.
Silicon Valley homeless housing gets $26 million federal boost
The Mercury News
Silicon Valley programs will receive more than $26 million in federal funds to help house the area’s growing homeless population, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Friday.
Peninsula News
Bullet train uncertainty for Millbrae
The Daily Journal
While Gov. Gavin Newsom signaled he’s putting the brakes on the high-speed rail plan connecting opposite ends of the state, officials considering transformative development at the Millbrae train station are moving full speed ahead.
It's unofficial: Jerome-Robinson named new Menlo Park city manager
The Almanac
The Menlo Park City Council wants to appoint Interim City Manager Starla Jerome-Robinson to the position permanently, the city announced late this afternoon (Feb. 21).
Menlo Park: New deputy director hired to lead city's housing efforts
The Almanac
Rhonda Coffman has been hired as Menlo Park's new deputy community development director overseeing housing, Interim City Manager Starla Jerome-Robinson announced on Wednesday, Feb. 20.
Overwhelmed by Need, 164-Unit Apartment Complex in San Mateo to Serve Missing Middle Market
The Registry
Developers in the San Francisco Bay Area are increasingly looking for ways to make...
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Express lanes deal in San Mateo finalized
The Daily Journal
The owner/operator arrangement for the Managed Lanes project is now official after unanimous votes by both C/CAG and the TA.
Three affordable housing projects moving forward in Redwood City
The Daily Journal
Three entirely affordable housing developments in Redwood City totaling 217 units are one step closer to breaking ground after the City Council signed off on funding strategies earlier this month.
Exclusive: Facebook's Willow Village site moves ahead with new development muscle
Silicon Valley Business Journal
Facebook has unveiled a refreshed master plan for its massive new Menlo Park campus and tapped a Bay Area developer for the 60-acre project.
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Millbrae development clears community hurdle
The Daily Journal
The developer of a sweeping mixed-use proposal near the Millbrae train station seemingly resolved concerns held by neighbors who feared the project would ruin their quality of life.
Renting in San Mateo: What you can find for $2,600
The Mercury News
We rounded up the latest rental listings via Zumper to see what you can find to rent in San Mateo with a budget of $2,600 per month. (Note: prices and availability are subject to change.)
Planning commission backs housing-heavy vision for Terra Bella
Mountain View Voice
For Mountain View's Environmental Planning Commission, the Terra Bella light industrial area represents a big opportunity for housing growth, but it comes with some serious challenges.
Opinion: Housing is key to Mountain View’s North Bayshore success
The Mercury News
Just over a year after unanimously passing the visionary North Bayshore Precise Plan, the Mountain View City Council is poised to take the next steps toward bringing the plan to reality.
East Bay News
Transit-Oriented Development Changing How Oakland Grows
Bisnow
Bay Area Rapid Transit has committed to an ambitious plan to build mixed-use transit-oriented developments around its stations throughout the Bay Area, and a number of those projects will be in Oakland.
Lennar seeks approval for 600 more East Bay homes
San Francisco Business Times
The new homes would be just a small piece of the megaproject looking to turn South Fremont into a walkable, urban environment.
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