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Draft EIR finds demolition of historic 550 O'Farrell would cause significant, unavoidable impacts; commission provided feedback
Summary
Planning staff told the Historic Preservation Commission that the draft EIR for 550 O'Farrell Street finds demolition of most of the 1924 Gothic Revival building would cause a project‑level significant and unavoidable impact to a historic resource; staff identified mitigation measures and preservation alternatives and the commission offered design and documentation suggestions.
Planning Department staff presented the draft environmental impact report for the 550 O'Farrell Street proposal on June 17 and asked the Historic Preservation Commission for review and comment before the Planning Commission hearing scheduled June 25.
Justin Greving and Jennifer McKellar said the project would demolish most of the existing 1924 parking-garage building (designed in Gothic Revival style by William C. Crim Jr.), retain the primary façade in the proposed project and build an approximately 105,000‑square‑foot, 13‑story mixed‑use building with about 111 dwelling units (roughly 22 inclusionary affordable units). The draft EIR concluded the proposed project and a project variant would each cause a "substantial adverse change" to the individual historic resource at 550 O'Farrell Street and identified those impacts as project‑level, significant and unavoidable under CEQA. Identified mitigation measures include HABS‑style documentation and a permanent interpretive display; the project variant analysis also recommends salvage consultation and good‑faith efforts to reuse materials.
Commissioners commended staff for early scoping engagement and asked for clarifications on retained element terminology ("vertical" versus "horizontal" hyphen) and facade treatment. Commissioners recommended that the Planning Commission be informed that a partial preservation alternative the HPC previously suggested became the proposed project and asked staff to include design review clarifications (paint analysis, material samples and treatment) in the response to comments. The project sponsor thanked the commission for prior input that helped shape the proposed project. The Planning Commission hearing on the draft EIR was scheduled for June 25; written comments are due to the EIR coordinator by 5 p.m. on July 7, 2020.
