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Port staff outlines revised America’s Cup plan, Port to shoulder waterfront improvements as bases shift toward Pier 80
Summary
Port staff told the Port Commission that demolition at Pier 27 is underway and that the America’s Cup event authority plans to move team industrial bases toward Pier 80; the Port would fund improvements at Piers 27–29 and potentially Piers 30–32, with public review and Board of Supervisors and BCDC steps scheduled.
Bridal Benson, Special Projects Manager for the Port of San Francisco, told the Port Commission on March 14 that the America’s Cup event authority and Mayor had confirmed the event will continue in 2012–13 but with a proposed move of team industrial bases to Pier 80 and changes to the development plan. Benson said demolition at Pier 27 has begun for the James R. Hermann cruise terminal and the Port will host a meet‑and‑greet for neighbors on March 20 at 3:30 p.m. at Pier 29½.
Benson said the development portion of the previously negotiated deal will not proceed and, as a result, the Port expects to undertake required improvements to the Piers 27–29 complex that were previously anticipated to be the event authority’s responsibility. Staff presented a plan that could revive parts of Piers 30–32 to house up to five team industrial bases (with overflow at Pier 80) and estimated that the 30–32 engineering approach would cost about $7–8 million. Benson also identified roughly $10,900,000 in other site improvement needs, including Pier 29 substructure repairs, a new end wall at Pier 29, stormwater improvements, fill removal at several piers, and relocation of shore power.
On financing, Benson said the Port has sufficient debt capacity to take on event‑related obligations and that retaining rents from properties would increase the Port’s bonding capacity from about $65 million to $89 million, which could be a source of funds for the work. She told commissioners the Port is continuing negotiations with the event authority, will go before the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) on March 15 in Oakland, and will file a revised lease/disposition agreement with the Board of Supervisors; the Board committee of the whole continued deliberations to March 27 and Port action was proposed for March 27 or April 10.
Public commenters urged support. Andrea Taber, a minority‑owned small business owner who supplies printing and signage materials, said the revised plan would allow her business to grow and urged the commission to concur. Norman Pierce, a long‑term resident and South Beach Harbor boat owner, said the revised plan restores a village concept that engages visitors and residents.
Benson, commissioners and the project team, including America's Cup project director Mike Martin (referenced in the presentation), said staff will continue refining the space plan and consulting with regulatory partners. The commission did not take a separate binding vote on the revised America’s Cup arrangements at the March 14 meeting; Benson identified the upcoming regulatory hearings and Board of Supervisors schedule as the next procedural steps.
