OCII authorizes conditional grant of up to $450,000 for Palou Avenue streetscape and Jennings Plaza in Bayview Hunters Point

The Commission conditionally authorized the executive director on Aug. 18 to enter into a grant agreement with the City and County of San Francisco (DPW) for up to $450,000 in tax‑exempt bond proceeds to fund Palou Avenue streetscape improvements and design/construction of a Jennings Street Plaza in Bayview Hunters Point.

OCII staff said roughly $896,000 in Bayview bond proceeds remain and that staff previously allocated a portion to Third Street pedestrian improvements and SF Shines. The $450,000 request would be used strictly for construction of streetscape and plaza elements identified through community meetings, including paving, planting, street trees, lighting, site furnishings, plaza programming elements and measures to secure and maintain the space.

DPW described community workshops that identified several priority locations along Palou and a DPW right‑of‑way at Jennings where residents proposed an amphitheater, farmer’s market, playground or other public‑realm features. DPW said design work is underway, the schedule targets construction by spring 2017, and that the $450,000 would be construction funding layered onto existing DPW design budgets and paving/sewer allocations.

Community speakers urged approval, citing blighted parcels and the need for gathering spaces, murals and greenery to retain long‑term neighborhood residents. OCII conditionally authorized the grant; the execution would be subject to Oversight Board concurrence and Department of Finance review, per dissolution law.