 PLANNING COMMISSION GREEN LIGHTS UPGRADE AND CONVERSION OF 888 BRANNAN STREET
—Adaptive Reuse of a historic building? Check.
—Energy upgrades to LEED Standard? Check.
—Union construction jobs? Check.
—Fees to improve the city and the neighborhood? Check.
At a recent meeting, the San Francisco Planning Commission unanimously approved up to 138,000 square feet of offices in the historic 888 Brannan Building. You might have read about this in the San Francisco Business Times.
It's a victory for the City as well as the owners. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places, built as a battery factory in 1917. But it's about half empty. Conversion of two floors to office, as allowed in the new Eastern Neighborhoods Urban Mixed Use Zone, will enable the owners, SKB Companies, to invest about $30 million in upgrades. For example, the leaky drafty windows will be repaired or replaced in compliance with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Historic Buildings.
Todd Gooding President of SKB, says: “Fortunately with David’s help we were able to shape the allowable uses in the neighborhood while the city was going through the Eastern Neighborhood Plan. David made the entitlement process relatively easy by arranging and managing our relationships with all stakeholders who would have a say in our entitlement quest. He really made the process a “win-win” for everybody involved.”
David Prowler helped insure that the Eastern Neighborhoods Plan would accommodate the change of use, working with staff, commissioners, and neighbors to marry the City’s goals and the owner’s. Then he got to work on the applications, submittals, framing the work of consultants, and educating neighbors, staff, and commissioners on the benefits of the proposal.
BLOG!
Recently, David launched davidprowler.wordpress.com, a place to write about cities, urbanism, planning, and design. Recent posts cover what went wrong at Montreal’s Habitat, how more lawsuits might make the sidewalks of Buenos Aires safer, fond memories of Harvey Milk, and the discovery of an unlikely tribute to a beat cop.
Check it out, bookmark it, pass it along, and you can even check a box to subscribe.
GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS FOR SHY PEOPLE WITH BIG PLANS
David Prowler will be speaking at the American Institute of Architects on Tuesday, June 22nd about how to tell the story of a project in order to gain support and votes. The talk is free and you don’t need to be an architect to come and, we hope, learn something useful. Whether it’s a modest home addition or a ballpark, knowing some ground rules can help insure success.
Try to stop by for more on the 22nd.
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2. This Mayor was subject to the first recall attempt in the City’s history, due to his increasing of streetcar fares! Later he tried to scrap the cable cars. Who was this Mayor?
3. This mayor went from City Hall to San Quentin. He got out and was later charged with 26 counts of graft and bribery, but he was acquitted when the key witness, a member of the Board of Supervisors, disappeared. He was later elected as Supervisor. Plus he was an orchestra leader and president of the Musicians Union. Can you name him?
4. Our first Mayor, he later became Governor of Pennsylvania. Nonetheless, he said “I desire to know no party, no section, no North, no South, no East, no West; nothing but Kansas and my country.” Wounded in battles at least ten times, he was an excellent target, at 6’6” and 250 pounds. The name?