Planning, preservation panels clear Heritage on the Marina project but send design back to ARC for final massing

The San Francisco Planning Commission and Historic Preservation Commission on April 17 certified an environmental review and approved a conditional use authorization for a redevelopment at 3400 Laguna Street known as Heritage on the Marina, while the Historic Preservation Commission approved a certificate of appropriateness conditioned on additional design review by the city's Architecture Review Committee.

Planning Department staff recommended certification of the final environmental impact report and adoption of CEQA findings after concluding the project's identified impacts could be mitigated to less-than-significant levels. "We did not find any significant unavoidable impacts," said Megan Kalpin, environmental review coordinator for the Planning Department.

The project, proposed by the San Francisco Ladies Protection and Relief Society (doing business as Heritage on the Marina), would demolish two noncontributing buildings on the site, construct two new four-story buildings (referred to as the Bay and Francisco buildings), renovate the landmark Julia Morgan building and add a below-grade garage. The sponsor and design team said the work would increase the facility's capacity to serve seniors and help stabilize the nonprofit's finances.

"We are a nonprofit, always have been, and have no plans to change," said Randy Gridley, chair of the board of the San Francisco Ladies Protection and Relief Society. Gridley told commissioners the organization faces mounting operating deficits and that the proposal is intended to increase revenue by serving more residents rather than raising fees on current residents.

Why it matters: The site at 3400 Laguna is a designated Article 10 San Francisco landmark that includes the 1925 Julia Morgan-designed mansion. Supporters and opponents framed the debate as a clash between preserving the landmark setting and ensuring the nonprofit can remain financially viable and continue serving seniors in the Marina.

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