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OCII approves 18-month extension of Mexican Museum grant, removes proposed transfer to City
Summary
The Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure approved an 18-month extension of the 12/14/2010 grant agreement with the Mexican Museum and voted to delete a proposed assignment of the grant to the City and County of San Francisco; the remaining grant balance is about $6.8 million and the item will be reviewed by the oversight board and the State Department of Finance.
The Commission on Community Investment and Infrastructure on Sept. 15 authorized staff to extend by 18 months a 2010 grant agreement with the Mexican Museum and removed a proposed assignment of that grant to the City and County of San Francisco.
Chair Miguel Bustos and two other voting commissioners approved the amendment on a 3-0 vote with one commissioner absent. The adopted action extends the term of the first-amendment to the December 14, 2010 grant agreement and preserves roughly $6.8 million remaining under the grant for the museum’s tenant improvements.
Staff said the 2010 grant agreement originally obligated $10,560,000 to help the Mexican Museum with predevelopment and build-out costs for its space in the 706 Mission mixed-use project in the Yerba Buena Cultural District. Under the 2013 purchase-and-sale agreement, the developer agreed to deliver the museum core-and-shell (valued by staff at about $22.5 million) and an endowment for operations; the developer is nearing construction completion and had begun delivering initial temporary certificates of occupancy earlier in the month.
During the presentation, staff told commissioners the museum’s capital fundraising has been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and that the museum continues to develop a funding and construction plan. Staff’s initial recommendation had been a one-year extension plus authorization to transfer the remaining grant and obligations to the City to facilitate administration of the community benefits. The commission, after discussion, amended the staff recommendation to allow up to 18 months for the extension and then voted to delete the assignment/transfer to the City from the motion.
Museum representatives joined the meeting for questions, including Andrew Kluger (board chair), Alejandro Vallejo (vice chair), Blanca Zarzua (board secretary) and Victor Marquez (counsel). Marquez and museum representatives said a longer period — up to 18 months — would be more helpful to complete capital fundraising amid pandemic-related delays; staff and counsel cautioned that the Department of Finance’s likely review would inform final timing and that assignment to the City could change oversight requirements.
Vice Chair LaVisha Rosales said she preferred retaining OCII jurisdiction for at least a few more months to ensure the agency’s community-benefit commitments and contract-compliance processes are fulfilled. Staff said transfer to the City would require oversight-board action and state Department of Finance approval, and that the City’s Department of Real Estate would most likely administer the museum space if the transfer occurred. Raymond Lee, OCII’s contract-compliance supervisor, said that ongoing contract-compliance features such as small-business participation and local-hire commitments could be carried forward by agreement with the City and the museum.
The commission’s action preserves the remaining grant funds and gives the museum and staff additional time to finalize design, construction and funding plans. The oversight board will consider the amendment at its next meeting and any oversight-board approval is subject to final review by the State Department of Finance.
The vote: Commissioner Scott — yes; Vice Chair LaVisha Rosales — yes; Chair Miguel Bustos — yes; Commissioner Brackett — absent. The commission adjourned at 2:00 p.m.
