Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Pier70 Redevelopment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Port Commission approves Pier 70 rehabilitation agreement, CEQA findings and financing steps
Summary
The San Francisco Port Commission approved staff recommendations to extend the exclusive negotiation agreement with Orton Development, adopt CEQA findings and mitigation measures, and approve transaction documents to rehabilitate the historic Pier 70 buildings, while authorizing staff to pursue seismic and tax-increment financing. The action advances a 66-year lease and a project the staff estimates will cost about $76 million.
The San Francisco Port Commission on May 13 approved a package of actions to move forward with rehabilitation and redevelopment of historic buildings at Pier 70.
Port staff presented a second amendment to the Exclusive Negotiation Agreement with Orton Development Incorporated and recommended adoption of CEQA findings and a mitigation monitoring and reporting program. The commission also approved the schematic drawings and the principal transaction documents that will govern a proposed long-term lease and redevelopment of the site.
The project, described by Planning and Development staff as a rehabilitation of the historic core at Twentieth and Illinois streets, is budgeted in staff’s latest presentation at about $76,000,000 in total costs. Staff said the financing plan combines a $20 million seismic loan, up to $14 million in historic tax credits, and private debt and equity — Orton-led equity letters of intent in the $35–40 million range were reported. The port’s up-front capital contribution was listed at roughly $1.75 million.
Port staff said the deal includes performance benchmarks, minimum public-access obligations for the site (including an atrium and plaza), and contract clauses to retain an industrial and light-manufacturing character in key buildings. Staff also described an infrastructure-financing-district (IFD) proposal that could fund $5–6 million of public-realm improvements, and local-hire and local-business participation commitments (the project team cited a 17% LBE goal for project work).
Community supporters at the hearing — including representatives of local advisory groups, SFMADE and other manufacturing advocates — urged the commission to approve the documents, citing job creation, historic preservation and neighborhood benefits. Staff projected the project would create roughly 400–500 permanent jobs when fully occupied and about 250 full-time-equivalent construction jobs.
Commissioners asked detailed questions about the plan-of-finance, repayment timelines for developer and port equity, and the terms of developer incentives; staff said the port’s participation-rent structure includes a repayment waterfall followed by a 50/50 sharing of net revenues and a limited 20% developer bonus if revenues exceed pro forma projections. Commissioners asked for continued monitoring and for staff to return with any clarified financing documentation required by subsequent approval bodies.
The commission approved the two resolutions associated with the transaction on verbal vote. Next steps identified by staff include Seismic Loan Committee review, budget and finance committee review and return to the full Board for any required additional approvals before final lease execution and construction permitting.
The staff presentation and votes conclude a multi-year effort to activate Pier 70’s historic buildings and to remove an estimated $110 million in unfunded capital needs from the port’s backlog by transferring rehabilitation responsibility to the developer under the approved deal.
